Mama Let the Wolf In

Album: Down to Believing (2015)
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Songfacts®:

  • Allison Moorer sings here about the autism diagnosis of her son, John Henry. She shares with us her own fears and struggles of dealing with the challenging disorder. "It's about how I feel about my son having autism," Moorer told Rolling Stone Country. "As a parent, whatever your children go through, I think there's a certain amount of it that you feel responsible for, even if you know it has nothing to do with you, even if you know that there's absolutely no way to protect them from the world or what they have to go through, whether it's being bullied, having a hard time in school or being an addict. When you can't protect them from going through something that's hard, you feel responsible for it. No one knows what causes autism; no one knows how to cure autism."
  • Moorer acknowledges it's always been a struggle taking care of her little boy. "It's a confounding condition," she admitted. "I admittedly have lied awake at night and asked myself, what did I do, where did I go wrong? I know I must have done something to cause this. If I had just not done this, or if I hadn't exposed him to that. A million things have gone through my head. Basically the song is channeling that energy and expressing that extreme frustration at not being able to protect him. It makes me feel very powerless."
  • Autism is a brain development disorder that usually sets in the first few years of a child's life. Here are some more songs about the condition:

    "Cars" (Gary Numan has Asperger's Syndrome, which is a form of autism causing dislocation in the subject's social interactions. Until he was diagnosed, he had a lot of trouble relating to other people. "Cars" is about how people use technology and material goods to isolate themselves from human contact.)

    "Noah and Jacob's Song" by Three Bad Jacks (Penned by lead singer Elvis Suissa about his two sons, Noah and Jacob. Noah is the older boy and has autism.)

    "Spaceship" by The Vines (Lead vocalist Craig Nicholls has Asperger's Syndrome. "Spaceship" is about how it has affected relationships with his family.)

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