Mother

Album: Bigger (2018)
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Songfacts®:

  • Kristian Bush's mom passed away when she was 55; this celebration of mothers was released on April 27, 2018, on what would have been her 73rd birthday.

    "[The song] is about a lot of things, our families, our lives, our country, but mostly, it's about my mom and what she was like," Bush stated on Instagram.
  • Jennifer Nettles told Taste of Country the track is a tribute to America as well as honoring the women who raised them.

    "We wanted to write a song that was a metaphor for the Statue of Liberty and how she's a feminine icon, this goddess figure that represents our country," she explained. "What you will hear in that is the beautiful personal politic of, she'll take you in, she'll feed your friends. Her open arms are welcoming... Right there it's, 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.' All of that is in there."
  • The Sugarland duo spent time thinking about those things a mother can say that a father cannot. "If you and your brother were fighting the whole time and everybody was showing their a--, you know what she would do? She would look at you... and she would say, 'You can do better,'" said Nettles.
  • Speaking to during a media event, Jennifer Nettles explained that she and Kristian Bush wanted to this song to be a celebration of a mother's "unconditional, open-ended kind of love."

    She added: "What she should want most for you is somebody that's good for you and good to you. It doesn't matter how somebody prays, and it doesn't matter who they are."
  • Kristian Bush explained there is "a lot of messaging" on Bigger, which the duo put "underneath the surface, so it's not really yelling at you, it's talking."

    He added: "When we get in a room and write, we're completely aware of who might be listening and how to reach their heart, instead of set them off. We wanna calm everybody down, and then hug them. And then remind them that their mother would be sorely disappointed in them if they started to hate."
  • One of the lines was specifically included by Sugarland to serve as a "beautiful motto for the LGBTQ+ community."

    First thing she taught you was love is love

    Nettles explained: "In a time where religion and sexual orientation are hot buttons for people, we wanted to talk about the love piece of that, from a mom's perspective, which is what's really important."

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