Ten Songs About Mum For Mother's Day

Miley Cyrus

This weekend, it’s Mother’s Day.

It’s when we’re all pressured by flower businesses, card businesses, and perfume businesses to spend hundreds of dollars on our mothers. There’s no doubt that our mums are worth every cent we could spend to make their Mother’s Day special, but sometimes, those gifts don’t go far enough to express what you’re trying to convey.

That’s where music comes in. There are plenty of songs about romantic love and heartbreak, money and success, children, and much more, but it turns out that there’s also an abundance of songs written for and about mothers who had an incredible impact on their children.

Below, The Music has rounded up just ten songs about mums for Mother’s Day. We had so many to choose from, but we’ve presented a solid selection of pop, rock, R&B, and country songs about spectacular mums, both from Australia and abroad.

Maybe it’s time to make your mum a playlist of songs that make you think of her. Here are some you can choose from.

Miley Cyrus – Mother’s Daughter

Released in June 2017, Mother’s Daughter was the lead single from Miley Cyrus’s She Is Coming EP.

The song follows numerous topics, but at its heart is the strong relationship between Miley and her mother, Tish Cyrus. Recalling how her mum told her she’d “make it” as an entertainer, Miley sings, “I put my back into it, my heart in it/So I did it, yeah I did it.”

Elsewhere, Miley makes direct statements regarding her support for feminism and LGBTQIA+ movements, all while exploring her growth as an artist.

“Don’t fuck with my freedom/I came up to get me some,” she sings before singing the titular line: “I’m nasty, I’m evil/Must be something in the water, or that I’m my mother’s daughter.”

Kasey Chambers – Mother

In 2004, Kasey Chambers penned a tender, moving tribute to her mother, Diane. Mother, from her 2004 album Wayward Angel, finds the Australian country music legend asking, “Did I cry? I only remember the days I was laughin’.”

For Mother’s Day in 2018, Kasey paid tribute to her Mum, stating that her father taught her everything she knows about music, and her Mum taught her “EVERYTHING ELSE!”

With Kasey herself becoming a mother before the release of Wayward Angel, honouring her mum on Mother is as sweet as it gets for her long-time family-focused musical project.

Taylor Swift – The Best Day

In November 2008, Taylor Swift became a household name following the release of her second album, Fearless. While the album was home to massive singles such as Love Story and You Belong With Me, it’s The Best Day that still reduces fans to tears.

Taylor wrote the track about her mother, Andrea, and how special she is. “She would just take me on these adventures, and we would drive around and go to towns we’d never seen before,” Taylor explained in an interview with Taste of Country.

“Those adventures and those days of just running away from my problems — you’re not supposed to run away from your problems, but when you’re 13 and your friends won’t talk to you and they move when you sit down at the lunch table, and your mom lets you run from those problems, I think it’s a good thing…my mom was my escape in a lot of ways.”

With the closing line “I didn’t know if you knew, so I’m taking this chance to say/That I had the best day with you today,” The Best Day oozes with nostalgia—just enough.

Tupac – Dear Mama

Pioneering R&B artist Tupac paid tribute to his mother, Afeni Shakur, with his 1995 track, Dear Mama.

“Ain’t a woman alive that could take my mama’s place,” a more sensitive Tupac than what fans were used to proclaims, later singing: “There’s no way I can pay you back/But the plan is to show you that I understand/You are appreciated,” and “Mama made miracles every Thanksgivin’.”

It’s still touching—and appreciated—to this day.

The Beatles – Julia

It’s one of Dave Grohl’s favourite songs by The Beatles, and it’s probably yours, too.

Written by John Lennon, Julia simultaneously acts as a tribute to his deceased mother and commemorates his new love, Yoko Ono.

Songwriter Donovan Leitch said he helped Lennon write the song while they were in India together. He recalled, “[Lennon] told me he wanted to write a song about his mother. He said, ‘Donovan, you’re the king of children’s songs. Can you help me? I want to write a song about the childhood that I never really had with my mother.’ He asked me to help him with the images that he could use in lyrics for a song about this subject.

“So, I said, ‘Well, when you think of the song, where do you imagine yourself?’ And John said, ‘I’m at a beach, and I’m holding hands with my mother, and we’re walking together.’ And I helped him with a couple of lines, ‘Seashell eyes / windy smile’ — for the Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland feel that John loved so much.”

Alanis Morissette – Heart Of The House

Alanis Morissette asks some good questions on the falsetto-led Heart Of The House, one of the highlights from her 1998 album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie—the follow-up to her world-conquering Jagged Little Pill record.

“You are the original template/You are the original exemplary,” she sings. “How seen were you actually? How revered were you, honestly, at the time?” It’s a question we’ve asked about mothers and emotional labour—seen but never commented on.

Before performing the song in 2014, Alanis said, “This is about my mama. To all the mamas here… and the maternal for those who have not borne their own children, for the mama in you, including the mom in the men.”

Good Charlotte – Thank You Mom

It’s 2000, and Good Charlotte are on the radio, but it’s not one of their typical anthems. Instead, it’s Thank You Mom, a song where Joel and Benji Madden proclaim their endless love for their mother.

“And I thank you/I’ll always thank you,” the brothers sing. “More than you would know/Than I could ever show. And I love you/I’ll always love you/There’s nothing I won’t do/To say these words to you/That you will live forever.” It doesn’t get much sweeter than that.

Melanie Dyer – Mama Knows Best

This week, Melanie Dyer has delivered a special, heartfelt tribute to her mum with Mama Knows Best.

The Australian rising star of country music presents the song with her voice at the forefront, only backed by an acoustic guitar. That’s all you need when the songwriting is this strong.

“Watching my mum raise my sisters and me with such unwavering intuition - despite having to navigate the world without her own Mother from such a young age - has been the greatest inspiration in my life,” Dyer explained in a statement.

“This song is more than just a thank you for her strength and sacrifice; it’s a recognition of the quiet grace it takes to carry the heaviest loads just to make the world feel lighter for everyone else.”

What makes Mama Knows Best even more special is that Melanie’s mother herself appears in the music video.

“There was something so deeply emotional about flipping between shots of me in the mirror and my Mum looking at that photo of her own mother. Seeing those three generations captured together made the whole experience feel like more than just a music video; it felt like a tribute,” she said.

Alicia Keys – Superwoman

Mums are super, and we all know it. And Alicia Keys captured those thoughts in song on her 2008 track, Superwoman.

The song and music video feature everyday women from across the globe and in various financial situations, not only providing for themselves but also for their loved ones. When Keys sings “For all the mothers fighting/For better days to come,” it rings true—who doesn’t know a Superwoman like that?

Paul Kelly & Dan Sultan – Every Day My Mother’s Voice

Released in 2019, two of Australia’s most loved singer-songwriters teamed up to honour AFL hero and 2014 Australian of the Year, Adam Goodes, and his mother.

Before he retired from his AFL career, Adam Goodes donned a guernsey designed by his mother, Lisa-May Sansbury, which he wore during the 2013 Indigenous round. His mother was forcibly removed from her family as a child, and when she had children of her own, she dedicated her life to giving them the best life possible.

Adam Goodes has commented on the dedication of his mother and aunties, who raised him: “Mum’s had the biggest influence on my life. I’ve been very lucky to grow up with not only my mum, but my aunties, too. I’ve always had lots of care from different women. That’s why I have a lot of empathy to want to support and help people.

In 2019, Paul Kelly and Dan Sultan brought that relationship to life on Every Day My Mother’s Voice, where they sing, “Every day my mother’s voice/Talks to me/Every day I make my choice/What to do and how to be.”