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Cover of The Burdens of Being Upright by Tracy Bonham
Cover: The Burdens of Being Upright

Song · Tracy Bonham

“Mother Mother” by Tracy Bonham

From the album The Burdens of Being Upright (1996)

“Mother Mother” by Tracy Bonham appears on 26 radio countdowns from 20 stations between 1996 and 2023. It was first released in 1996 on the album The Burdens of Being Upright. Its best result is #11 on the Radio & Records Top 96 Songs of 1996. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #10 alternative song of 1996, #3,095 alternative song of all time and #214 of the '90s.

26countdowns
20stations
#11best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1996–2023years charted

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Tracy Bonham - Mother Mother

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"Mother Mother" hit in March 1996 from Tracy Bonham's debut album, The Burdens of Being Upright, and it still sounds like a phone line about to melt. A young woman is checking in with her mom: the verses chatter about the dull business of daily life, then the chorus tears the mask off and Bonham screams out everything she's been hiding. She has said it grew out of her own people-pleasing years, calling home and pretending all was well, and was never the anti-mom tirade many took it for.

Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade produced it, with Josh Freese on drums, Drew Parsons on bass and Bonham on guitar and violin, and Tom Lord-Alge's mix makes the leap from hush to howl land like a slammed door. It topped Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and remains her most successful single.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1996 36 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1996 107
1996 23 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1996 91
1996 14 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1996 25
1996 35 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1996 101
1996 31 WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 1996 99
1996 24 107.7 The End Seattle, WA The End Top 107 Songs of 1996 107
1996 36 WBCN Boston, MA WBCN Top 104 Songs of 1996 104
1996 35 WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 1996 100
1996 34 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 1996 100
1996 11 Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart) Radio & Records Top 96 Songs of 1996 96

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1999 395 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 907 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 255 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 323 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 993 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2001 427 WBRU WBRU Modern Rock Top 500 (2001) 500
2002 14 The Buzz The Buzz Top Songs of All-Time (Labor Day 2002, partial) 144
2002 1261 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2005 890 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2007 487 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2021 76 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2021 412 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2022 814 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2022 387 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2023 314 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s 893
2023 405 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420

Also listed as: Mother, Mother.

Charting alongside it in 1996

Best songs of 1996 →
  1. 1Down311
  2. 2PepperButthole Surfers
  3. 3Where It's AtBeck
  4. 4SpiderwebsNo Doubt
  5. 5What I GotSublime
  6. 6MachineheadBush

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