A best friend, a caregiver, a pillar of strength, a guiding light - she's been there in every step of the way since day one. She's the one and only; she's my mother.
Every year, we attempt to go the extra mile for our mothers on this day. However, a day of appreciation is nothing compared to a lifetime of gratitude for someone who holds this special place in our hearts.
This Mother's Day, as we celebrate mothers, six Singaporean musicians share how they were influenced growing up with the music their mothers loved and dedicated songs by homegrown artists that carry a precious meaning to them.
SHYE
"I grew up listening to Alanis Morisette, The Cranberries, Prince and U2 because of my mom. For most of the artists, whenever their songs came on the radio, she would sing along to them and I would ask who the artist was. That’s how I expanded my playlist with new tunes. I was also really interested to know the kind of songs she listened to when she was my age, and she’s always really happy to tell me."
A song I want to dedicate to my mom: Stay Home - Universal and friends: 14 artistes
TAY KEWEI (郑可为)
"My parents listened to classical Chinese orchestra music, and i learnt the erhu since young! my mum played the pipa. my dad was in the Chinese orchestra and much of my childhood was spent at Victoria Concert Hall watching their performances."
A song I want to dedicate to my mom: 墨墨爱着你 - Tay Kewei
"It's a song I wrote for my son and one of my proudest works! My mum is my biggest fan and loves her grandson to bits, so this song is definitely meaningful to her."
RASYID (WORMROT, MARIJANNAH)
"My mum is solely responsible for my love for The Carpenters, Chicago, Bread and David Gates. She used to play their CDs at home everyday. I learned the melodies quietly, although I was too young to know the words or what they meant. I'll always be thankful of my musical upbringing and my mum for having good taste in music."
A song I want to dedicate to my mom: Akhirnya Kini Pasti - Anita Sarawak
"I know she likes Anita Sarawak quite a bit. This song, however, is more modern 90's pop compared to the artistes mentioned above, but I'm sure she'll appreciate it."
YUNG RAJA
"I grew up listening to classic evergreen A. R. Rahman songs! She’s a huge fan of Kollywood music. Growing up it was always playing on TV!"
A song I want to dedicate to my mom: Unconditional - Charlie Lim
SHELBY WANG (王晓敏)
"When I was still little, mum used to play classical piano tracks in the car for me to revise for my piano exam. She also likes Wakin Chau and JJ Lin. I remember her loving the song 会有那么一天 by JJ when I just discovered his first album in primary school!"
A song I want to dedicate to my mom: 在你的世界存在 - Shelby Wang
IMAN (IMAN'S LEAGUE)
"I grew up listening to anything to do with Malay 70s pop (Alleycats, Sanisah Huri, Broery Marantika). These are the songs that used to always be on the Malay radio station at around 6-7pm each day and that will be the time my mum will be screaming and asking me to take my shower. Each time i listen to these songs , it always reminded me of my younger days at home with my mum."
A song I want to dedicate to my mom: PlainSunset - River Song
"Any songs by plain sunset always remind me of home. And home will always remind me of my Mum and my wife (who is also a mother now). I was on Indonesia / Australia tour in 2017 and that was the longest time i was away from my family. This song always reminded me of home especially my mum. Especially now during the CB period i had not seen my mum for the past 1 month. I'll probably write a song about her soon."
Listen to the list of song dedications here:
