"Mother" is a song by American
heavy metal band
Danzig. It was originally released in August 1989 as the lead single from their debut album, ''
Danzig''.
In 1993–1994, almost six years after its original release, a remixed version of the song titled "Mother '93" became a hit on radio and earned
Buzz Bin
MTV's Buzz Bin was a select group of music videos by up and coming artists and bands that the network deemed "buzz worthy", " cutting edge", or "the next big thing". As such, the selected videos received heavy rotation on the channel, and were als ...
rotation on MTV after a music video incorporating live footage was created to promote the band's new EP, ''
Thrall-Demonsweatlive''. During this time the single was reissued by
American Recordings, with the remix title updated to "Mother '94" on later versions.
"Mother" remains Danzig's highest charting single. It peaked at number 17 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...
chart and 43 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. In the UK, the song peaked at number 62 on the
singles chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...
.
Writing and recording
Following the success of "Mother",
Glenn Danzig recalled writing the song: "I remember calling
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records.
Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...
in the middle of the night and telling him that I wrote an incredible song—probably the best song I'd ever written. It was the song I always wanted to write. The first time we played it, people went crazy. But I never wrote that song to make it a hit—I never wrote that way, and I still don't. I write songs so that they say something and do something, and if people like them, great—and if they don't, they don't."
The "Mother '93" remix included extra
reverb
In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then decay as the sound is a ...
and a minor modification to the guitar solo.
The "live" version of "Mother '93" included an overdubbed concert audience atop the original track.
Content
Thematically, the song is a rhetorical challenge to parents, primarily inspired by
Tipper Gore
Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore (née Aitcheson; born August 19, 1948) is an American social issues advocate. She was the second lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 through her marriage to the 45th vice president, Al Gore in 1970, from who ...
who, along with the
Parents Music Resource Center
The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was an American committee formed in 1985 with the stated goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to have violent, drug-related, or sexual themes via labeling albums ...
, introduced the
Parental Advisory warning placed on albums that contain explicit content.
Glenn Danzig explained further: "Al Gore wanted to tell people what they could listen to and what they couldn't...it was basically coming down to the idea that he wouldn't let anybody record any music that he didn't think you should be doing. There was going to be an organization that would tell you what you could and couldn't record. And certainly if you couldn't record it, you couldn't put it out. It was really
fascist
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
."
Music video
The video begins with the quotation "Then I saw there was a way to Hell even from the gates of Heaven", taken from ''
The Pilgrim's Progress
''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is commonly regarded as one of the most significant works of Protestant devotional literature and of wider early moder ...
'' by
John Bunyan
John Bunyan (; 1628 – 31 August 1688) was an English writer and preacher. He is best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress'', which also became an influential literary model. In addition to ''The Pilgrim' ...
. The original 1988 music video was rejected by
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
for its ending sequence, which contains imagery of a chicken being sacrificed and an inverted cross being drawn in its blood (although Glenn Danzig noted that no chickens were actually killed nor harmed).
The "Mother '93" music video used concert footage taken from the band's Halloween 1992 performance at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in California, with additional footage shot in the UK.
Both the original "Mother" music video and the live footage version appeared on ''
Beavis and Butt-head
''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...
'', in the episodes "
Couch Fishing" and "
Crisis Line" respectively.
Covers
The song has been covered by
Anberlin
Anberlin is an American alternative rock band formed in Winter Haven, Florida, in 2002. Since the beginning of 2007, the band consists of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, ...
,
The Independents,
Coheed and Cambria
Coheed and Cambria is an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York, formed in 1995. It consists of Claudio Sanchez (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Travis Stever (guitars, vocals), Josh Eppard (drums, keyboards, backing vocals), and Za ...
,
Mason Jennings,
Lissie,
Edge of Sanity
Edge of Sanity was a Swedish death metal band that, alongside Opeth, is commonly regarded as being the first to fuse extreme metal styles like death metal, death and black metal with progressive rock. The group was founded by Dan Swanö in 1989 ...
and by
Tim McIlrath
Timothy James McIlrath (born November 3, 1978) is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, songwriter and co-founder of the punk rock band Rise Against. He is vegetarian and straight edge.
Early and personal life
Mc ...
of
Rise Against
Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rise Against's mu ...
. The song has been covered live by
Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member Janet We ...
,
Umphrey's McGee
Umphrey's McGee, sometimes stylized as UM, is an American rock band originally from South Bend, Indiana. The band experiments with many musical styles, including rock, metal, funk, jazz, blues, reggae, electronic, bluegrass, country, and ...
,
Motionless in White,
Ryan Adams
David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American Rock music, rock and Country music, country singer-songwriter. He has released 30 studio albums and three as a former member of Whiskeytown.
In 2000, Adams left Whiskeytown and released ...
, and as part of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' A.V. Undercover series, by the band
Wye Oak
The Wye Oak was the largest Quercus alba, white oak tree in the United States and the State Tree of Maryland from 1941 until its demise in 2002. Wye Oak State Park preserves the site where the revered tree stood for more than 400 years in the ...
. There is also a parody cover called "Glenn Leipzig: Mudder" by the German metal band
J.B.O.: as
Danzig is the name of a formerly German (Prussian) city,
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
is the name of an East German city; appropriately the song is sung entirely in a humorous East German accent.
Appearances
"Mother" appears in
Erik Ellington's section of the 1997
Zero Skateboards
Zero Skateboards is a skateboard company located in Carlsbad, California, United States. The brand was founded by professional skateboarder and entrepreneur Jamie Thomas, and distributed by his Black Box Distribution company. In late June 2014 ...
video, ''Thrill of It All''.
"Mother '93" appears in the soundtrack of the film ''
The Hangover Part III
''The Hangover Part III'' is a 2013 American comedy film produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the third and final installment in ''The Hangover'' trilogy and the sequel to ''The Hangover Part II'' (2 ...
''.
"Mother" appears during the end of episode 3 of season 2 of the HBO series ''
Crashing''.
During the Mother's Day 2012 episode of ''
The Cleveland Show
''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry (voice actor), Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of ''Family Guy'', and the second television ...
'', titled "
Mama Drama", a quick excerpt of the song is played by Rallo and his friends during an elementary school talent show. The animation also mimics the original music video.
"Mother" is featured on the in-game radio station 'Radio X' in the video games ''
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' and also appeared in ''
True Crime: New York City''.
The song appears during the end credits of the video game ''
F.3.A.R.'' and an episode of ''
Portlandia
''Portlandia'' is an American sketch comedy television series starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, set in and around Portland, Oregon, and spoofing the city's reputation as a haven for eccentric hipsters. The show was produced by Broa ...
''.
A cover version to which a final solo was added appears in the 2006 music video game ''
Guitar Hero II
''Guitar Hero II'' is a 2006 rhythm game developed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 and Activision for the Xbox 360. It is the sequel to ''Guitar Hero (video game), Guitar Hero'' (2005) and the second installment in t ...
'', whereas the master track appears in 2009's ''
Guitar Hero Smash Hits
''Guitar Hero Smash Hits'' (titled ''Guitar Hero Greatest Hits'' in Europe and Australia) is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Beenox
and published by Activision. It is the eighth installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game features 48 so ...
''. Lissie's cover of the song is used during the Happy Hunting trailer for the 2015 video game ''
Evolve''.
While pitching as
the closer
''The Closer'' is an American police procedural television series starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department Chief of police#United States, deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator originally from Atlanta, G ...
for the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
in 2004 and 2005,
Keith Foulke
Keith Charles Foulke ( ; born October 19, 1972) is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. A graduate of Hargrave High School in Huffman, Texas, Foulke attended Galveston College and Lewis–Clark State College. Between 1997 an ...
entered home games to the playing of "Mother".
Ryan Doumit
Ryan Matthew Doumit ( ; born April 3, 1981) is an American former professional baseball catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played the first seven years of his career for the Pittsburgh Pirates, then two for the Minnesota Twins, and one ...
of the
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...
baseball team used "Mother" as his walk up song.
It was also the entrance song for the
MMA
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world.
In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...
fighter
Gabriel Gonzaga
Gabriel Gonzaga Santos Nogueira (; born 18 May 1979) is a Brazilian former professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, Submission grappling, submission grappler and 5th degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) Brazilian jiu-jitsu ranking syst ...
.
A cover of "Mother" appears in the 2017 film ''
American Satan
''American Satan'' is a 2017 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural musical film, musical thriller film directed by Ash Avildsen, who also wrote the screenplay with Matty Beckerman. It was released in theaters on Friday October 13, 2017, ...
''.
"Mother" appears in the 2018 comedy film ''
Tag''.
"Mother" appears during the episode 1 of season 2 of the Netflix series ''Russian Doll''.
"Mother" appears in episode 3 of season 1 of the Amazon series ''
Paper Girls''.
"Mother" appears in the announcement trailer for the video game ''The Lords of the Fallen''.
"Mother" appears in the end credits of Yellowjackets Season 2, Episode 5: ''Two Truths and a Lie''.
Charts
Mother '93
References
{{authority control
1988 debut singles
1988 songs
Danzig (band) songs
Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin
Protest songs
Songs about mothers
Songs about the media
American Recordings (record label) singles