Holly Williams Sings the Truth
Country music's at its finest when it's relatable. That's what the experts always say, anyway. What they mean by that is that if you "get" a song because you've been there, then you will love that song. Even if living through that song's story wasn't the best time of your life.
That's where this Holly Williams spin comes in. She has this new song out called "Mama." It's about divorce. More specifically, her mother's divorce from Hank Williams Jr. So right away, it is destined to pique the attention of Bocephus fans and at least half the country listeners out there. (I'm basing that on the statistic that 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. So if country listeners represent an average cross section of the population, it's probably safe to assume half the fans have been touched by divorce. Myself included.) And it's pretty much impossible to not love the crisp mandolin that accompanies the lyrics.
But this is more than just another love-gone-wrong divorce tune. It's about the woman being the bigger man, so to speak. About how she could've been bitter, hated him and talked about the whiskey and the women. I know divorced women who do exactly that and, honestly, that chip looks good on no one's shoulder.
So the relatability factor here is high when Williams talks about the power of forgiveness. She sings that "Mama, you were smiling when you could've been crying all night/Mama, you made me believe everything was all right" and how "You could've fought, you could've cut him down to shame/You could've told us that our daddy didn't want us."
This roots-country song is right on. For me, anyway. My mom would've been completely justified to complain about my dad and his long list of flaws. But she kept those to herself. It was the classy thing to do. And I think this is a classy way to pay tribute to the moms like that.
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merlefan49 says:
It’s a great song but I’m gonna bet Country Radio won’t give it the time of day. It will be to country.
RedMaZ says:
Hey Al, Did you know Holly Williams’ Grandfather was a famous Country singer? His name was Hank Williams.
Alison Bonaguro says:
Thanks, Red. I did know. Holly never knew him, though, since he died when her dad was so little. So while I appreciate that she’s Hank’s kin, I didn’t think it was relevant to this blog about this song.
merlefan49 says:
I think any time a family member of Hanks releases a song it is relevant to a blog or article.
merlefan49 says:
Hanks grandson Hank the 3rd also makes some great country music.
RRick says:
I love this song but agree with Merlefan that it’s too country, too rootsy, and too traditional sounding to get airplay on Top 40 country radio by a non-established artist. Its a shame that songs like this wind up on Americana radio because mainstream stations won’t play them…
RedMaZ says:
Just bringing a little education to the blog. I have the feeling a lot of people here no nothing of Hank Williams or country music history in general. But I see you’ve made a major breakthrough, by finally acknowledging the rest of today’s country music by using the term “Roots Country” (possibly for the first time)since it makes up about 90% of today’s overall country music scene. A BIG congratulations to you! Now if you would just use the term “Pop Country” when deamed appropriate, you’d really be making some progress. Hang in there, it’s never too late to learn.
To RRick and merlefan, Although I really don’t have much use for radio,(other than NPR and maybe independent college radio) why is it a shame that songs like this end up on Americana radio? That’s what it is, and where it belongs. What would be a shame if someone like, Urban, Chesney, Sugarland, Rascal Flatts etc. were on Americana Radio. But we know that would never happen don’t we? Personally I believe certain genres of music should be played on certain radio formats. Throwing in a few Roots songs on a Pop station isn’t going to make me listen anyway. Nothing shameful about that.
debra clary says:
I know your music is good….my Mom listen to Hank Sr…I listen to Hank Jr…My Mother gave me 3 pictrues of your Grandfather Hank Sr…..my aunt and uncle ran ( Mary’s Record Shop )…..1 picture was taken with my aunt Mary and 1 with my uncle ….then there is one picture of Hank Sr that he signed for them….the record shop was onpen in the 1950’s….I have the pictures in frams.