# Songs with Maternal Advice **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655 "2016-08-03T17:50:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/1 "2016-08-03T17:50:21Z")
Driving home from work last night, I heard the song _Too Late to Turn Back Now_. It’s a great song but I’d never really paid much attention to the lyrics beyond the chorus, and I noticed that it’s one of quite a few songs that contain advice from a mother to a child (most of whom, but not all, are boys or young men). [ul] [li]“Please beware: there’s a thing called love, and it’s everywhere.” _Too Late to Turn Back Now_ – Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose[/li][li]“There’ll be days like this.” _Mama Said_ – The Shirelles[/li][li]“Take your time; don’t live too fast. Troubles will come, and they will pass.” _Simple Man_ – Lynyrd Skynyrd[/li][li]“Before you ask some girl for her hand now, keep your freedom for as long as you can now.” _Shop Around_ – Smokey Robinson and the Miracles[/li][li]“That ain’t the way to have fun, uh-uh.” _Mama Told Me Not To Come_ – written and later recorded by Randy Newman but made famous first by Eric Burdon and the Animals and later Three Dog Night[/li][/ul] What other songs have words to live by from dear ol’ Mom? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/2 "2016-08-03T17:55:20Z")
[Mama Said Knock you Out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vimZj8HW0Kg) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/3 "2016-08-03T17:59:53Z")
_You Can’t Hurry Love_ _Shoop Shoop Song_ (It’s in His Kiss) _Magic Man_ _I Hope You Dance_ _Fancy_ (by Reba, not Iggy) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/4 "2016-08-03T18:02:34Z")
_I’ll Be There For You_, the theme from FRIENDS. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/5 "2016-08-03T18:18:09Z")
Que sera, sera Whatever will be, will be The future’s not ours to see ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/6 "2016-08-03T19:18:08Z")
Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys Mama Tried Don’t Take Your Guns To Town ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/7 "2016-08-03T19:24:41Z")
Lollipop by Mika ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/8 "2016-08-03T19:27:29Z")
_Blues In The Night_ by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/9 "2016-08-03T19:27:40Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Mama, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys This one is actually advice \*for \*mothers – not \*from \*them. Incidentally, I saw Willie (who covered this Ed Bruce song with Waylon) this weekend at a concert with Kacey Musgraves in Denver. Great, great show. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/10 "2016-08-03T19:44:38Z")
“When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me. Speaking words of wisdom, **Let it Be** ” - The Beatles **Mother** by Pink Floyd “Hush now baby, baby don’t you cry Mama’s gonna make all of your nightmares come true Mama won’t let anyone dirty get through” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/11 "2016-08-03T20:09:17Z")
“Hush little baby don’t you cry Soon the sun is going to shine We’re going to be free like the birds and the bees Running wild in the big country.” – Got to Be Free, the Kinks ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/12 "2016-08-03T21:09:05Z")
A song with a notable exception is CeeLo Green’s “Fuck You”: I tried to tell my mamma but she told me “this is one for your dad” ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/13 "2016-08-03T21:53:14Z")
The Shangri Las _[I Can Never Go Home Anymore](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzIYODcRx_Y)_. A really underrated tune. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/14 "2016-08-03T22:19:21Z")
**Mama Told Me Not To Come** , Three Dog Night Oops, that one is buried in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/15 "2016-08-03T22:30:11Z")
“That’s the Way” - Led Zeppelin (“Mama said…that’s the way it oughta be.”) “Surrender” - Cheap Trick ('Mommy told me, yes she told, me, I’d meet girls like you. She also told me, stay away, you’ll never know what you’ll catch.") ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/16 "2016-08-03T22:35:13Z")
“Simple Man,” Skynyrd. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/17 "2016-08-03T22:36:55Z")
_When I was just a baby My mama told me, Son, Always be a good boy, Don’t ever play with guns._ –Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison Blues ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/18 "2016-08-03T23:34:53Z")
The song hailed by Lawrence Welk as “a modern spiritual”, Brewer and Shipley’s [_One Toke Over the Line_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8tdmaEhMHE), includes the line “I felt the joy and I learned about the pain that my momma said/If I should choose to make a part of me, would surely strike me dead”. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/19 "2016-08-03T23:39:19Z")
“But mama said You can’t hurry love No, you just have to wait She said love don’t come easy It’s a game of give and take” - You Can’t Hurry Love, The Supremes (or Phil Collins, depending on your generation) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655/20 "2016-08-03T23:42:05Z")
Rod Stewart’s _Forever Young_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-maternal-advice/761655.md?page=2)