Family Affair

Written for Song Lyric Sunday. This week Jim Adams
has asked his readers in his post ‘Quality Time’ to write about
a song dealing with parenting or a child/parent relationship.
This theme was my suggestion and here is my reply.

As I’ve mentioned before on my site and here on SLS, I come from a musical family where we all sang and played instruments. I grew up listening to every kind of music and I loving most of it. That is still true today.
One type of music I enjoy but haven’t listened to recently is country. Considering today’s theme is ‘parenting and child/parent relationships‘, country seemed an appropriate vehicle. The poignancy and sincerity of country music song lyrics deals with familial experiences like few other genres. But I’m also very particular about my country artists, preferring Keith Urban over Earl Scruggs or Belinda Carlile over Tanya Tucker. And, as luck would have it, Keith and Belinda are my featured performers today so let get this rodeo started!

With a huge music star such as Keith Urban and the internet, we know a lot about the man already … too much to print here …  so we will go with the Reader’s Digest abbreviated version. Anything else you want to know about Keith can be readily found online.
Keith Urban was born October 26, 1967 in Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand. He is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist who earned recognition both inside and outside the country music sphere for his pop-rock influences and honest lyrics. Urban was the recipient of many awards for his music, especially within the country music arena. Among them were four Grammy Awards for Best Male Country Vocal Performance (2005, 2007, 2009, and 2010). In 2012 he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, one of country music’s highest honors.
Urban has released 11 studio albums. He has charted 37 singles on the US Hot Country Songs chart, 18 of which went to #1. Keith and Australian actress Nicole Kidman have been married for 18 years and have two daughters.

In “Song for Dad,” Keith Urban recounts how he began to appreciate and understand his father better as he grew older. “I only hope when I have my own family/That every day I see a little more of my father in me,” he sings. This is a sweet song about appreciating your dad and realizing that he was looking out for your best interests after all. Urban revealed that the track was inspired by his own upbringing in a household impacted by alcoholism. “I grew up with an alcoholic father,” Urban shared, reflecting on the challenges of that environment. He explained that the song touches on his realization, later in life, that he was repeating the same patterns. Urban says that the song is about hope and breaking destructive cycles. “It’s never too late,”  he said, adding that the song became a cathartic way for him to process his past and strive for a different future for his daughters as well as himself.

This is “ Song For Dad” by Keith Urban

LYRICS

Lately I’ve been noticin’
I say the same things he used to say
And I even find myself
Actin’ the very same way, mmm

I tap my fingers on the table to the rhythm in my soul
And I jingle the car keys when I’m ready to go
And when I look in the mirror he’s right there in my eyes
Starin’ back at me and I realize

The older I get the more I can see
How much he loved my mother and my brother and me
And he did the best that he could
And I only hope when I have my own family
That every day I see a little more of my father in me, yeah

There were times I thought he was bein’
Just a little bit hard on me
But now I understand he was makin’ me
Become the man he knew that I could be, mmm

In everything he ever did, he always did with love
And I’m proud today to say I’m his son
When somebody says I hope I get to meet your dad
I just smile and say you already have

The older I get the more I can see
How much he loved my mother and my brother and me
And he did the best that he could
And I only hope when I have my own family
That every day I see a little more of my father in me

He’s in my eyes my heart, my soul
My hands, my pride and when I feel alone
And I think I can’t go on, I hear him sayin’, “Son, you’ll be alright
Everything is gonna be alright”, yes it is

The older I get the more I can see
That he loved my mother and my brother and me
And he did the best that he could
And I only hope when I have my own family
That every day I see, oh, I hope I see
Ooh, I hope every day I see a little more of my father in me
Yeah, a little more of my father in me

I hope every day I see in me, in me, in me
I hope every day I see a little more of my father in me

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Keith Lionel Urban
Song for Dad lyrics © Guitar Monkey Music, Songs Of Universal Inc., Coburn Music, Inc.

My next featured artist is the gifted singer/songwriter, Brandi Carlile, born July 1, 1981 in Ravensdale, Washington. With few neighbors or friends nearby, Brandi made her own entertainment … camping and hiking in the nearby woods and teaching herself to sing. Her musical preferences were heavily influenced by her parents’ choices, which consisted of classic country music such as Patsy Cline, who remains one of Brandi’s favorite singers.
At the age of 17, Carlile taught herself to play guitar and she began playing anywhere she could get a gig. Through her bar gigs, she met twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth, who were in a local R&R band. When the Hanseroth’s band broke up, Carlile formed a new group with them. Her emotionally powerful songwriting and acoustic guitar work quickly became a dominant component of the group’s sound and they began touring regularly, headlining small venues and opening shows for successful artists.
Columbia Records signed Brandi Carlile in late 2004 on the strength of songs recorded at her home. Her self-titled debut album, released in 2005, quickly heralded Carlile as an important new singer/songwriter and earned her the title of one of Rolling Stone magazine’s “10 Artists to Watch in 2005.” Brandi has been given the coveted title of a VH1 “You Oughta Know Artist”.

Brandi Carlile’s “The Mother” is a gentle and sweet acoustic-based track that relies on little else, though some light percussion does seep its way in here and there. It’s personal … an honest and unflinching look at the most intimate part of her life: motherhood and how it changed her. An utterly gorgeous song that highlights Carlile’s superb set of pipes – a delicateness noticeable in her voice, sounding pristine as she delivers the lyrics, though no less forceful and steadfast than on any of her other works. This bare-bones manner is a perfect example of what she is capable of and allows “The Mother” to be teeming with emotions and feelings. Intended as a love letter from Carlile to her daughter Evangeline, Brandi expresses what she means to her, how wanted Evangeline always was, along with what Carlile hopes for her daughter in the future.

This is “The Mother” by Brandi Carlile

LYRICS

Welcome to the end of being alone inside your mind
You tethered to another, and you’re worried all the time
You always knew the melody, but you never heard it rhyme

She’s fair, and she is quiet, Lord, she doesn’t look like me
She made me love the morning, she’s a holiday at sea
The New York streets are as busy as they always used to be
But I am the mother of Evangeline

The first things that she took from me were selfishness and sleep
She broke a thousand heirlooms I was never meant to keep
She filled my life with color, cancelled plans and trashed my car
But none of that is ever who we are

Outside of my windows are the mountains and the snow
I’ll hold you while you’re sleeping, and I wish that I could go
All my rowdy friends around, accomplishing their dreams
But I am the mother of Evangeline

And they’ve still got their morning paper and their coffee and their time
And they still enjoy their evenings with the skeptics and the wine
Oh, but all the wonders I have seen, I will see a second time
From inside of the ages through your eyes

You are not an accident where no one thought it through
The world has stood against us, made us mean to fight for you
And when we chose your name, we knew that you’d fight the power too

You’re nothing short of magical and beautiful to me
I’ll never hit the big time without you
So, they can keep their treasure and their ties to the machine
‘Cause I am the mother of Evangeline

They can keep their treasure and their ties to the machine
‘Cause I am the mother of Evangeline
Ooh, ooh
Ooh

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Phillip John Hanseroth/Timothy Jay Hanseroth/Brandi Marie Carlile
The Mother lyrics © Universal Music Corp., Southern Oracle Music LLC, Southern Oracle Music LLC

And finally, it’s definitely not country but I just couldn’t overlook this classic song. “Family Affair” was the first new song by Sly & the Family Stone in almost two years and their third and final #1 single. It was the most successful hit of the group’s career, peaking at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and staying there for three weeks, while achieving the same on the Billboard R&B Singles chart for five weeks. Billboard ranked it as the #79 song for 1972. In 2021, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song 57^th on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. This is psychedelic funk soul at its best and, since my post today bears the same name, it’s only right to pay a little homage to this fabulously funky tune.

This is Sly & the Family Stone with “Family Affair”

LYRICS

It’s a family affair
It’s a family affair
It’s a family affair
It’s a family affair

One child grows up to be
Somebody that just loves to learn
And another child grows up to be
Somebody you’d just love to burn

Mom loves the both of them
You see, it’s in the blood
Both kids are good to mom
Blood’s thicker than the mud

It’s a family affair
It’s a family affair
It’s a family affair
It’s a family affair
Over there, over there

Newlywed a year ago
But you’re still checking each other out, hey
Nobody wants to blow
Nobody wants to be left out, uh-huh

You can’t leave cause your heart is there
But, sure, you can’t stay cause you been somewhere else
You can’t cry cause you’ll look broke down
But you’re cryin’ anyway cause you’re all broke down

[Chorus]
It’s a family affair
It’s a family affair
It’s a family affair
It’s a family affair
Oh, hey, a family affair
It’s a family affair

Source: Musixmatch
All lead vocals by Sly Stone and Rose Stone Bass
Electric guitar and drum programming by Sly Stone
Hohner Pianet by Billy Preston
Lyrics by Sly Stone
Songwriters: Mary J. Blige/Bruce Allen Miller/Andre Romell Young/Melvin Charles Bradford/ Asiah Louis/ Luchana N. Lodge/Camara Yero Kambon/Michael A. Elizondo Jr.
Family Affair lyrics © Wb Music Corp., Universal Music Corp., Elvis Mambo Music, Ain’t Nothing But Funkin’ Music, Music Of Windswept, Hard Working Black Folks Inc., Mary J. Blige Music, Cwab, Spirit One Music, Mijac Music, Melvin Bradford Pub Designee, Universal Tunes, Melvin Bradford Music, Five Card Music, Colorscapes Publishing Inc, Fahrenheit Songs

Quality Time

Big thanks to Jim Adams for hosting another great Song Lyric Sunday this week. Be sure to follow the link and check out Jim’s site.

Thanks for stopping by and spinning some tunes. See you on the flip side. 😎

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