 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Mama" Genesis song – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| "Mama" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | ||||
| Single byGenesis | ||||
| from the albumGenesis | ||||
| B-side | "It's Gonna Get Better" | |||
| Released | 22 August 1983[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1983 | |||
| Studio | The Farm,Surrey | |||
| Genre | Synth-rock[2] | |||
| Length | 6:49 (album version) 6:07 (single version) 5:18 (video edit / radio edit) 7:27 (long version) | |||
| Label | Atlantic,Virgin,Vertigo | |||
| Songwriters | Tony Banks,Phil Collins,Mike Rutherford | |||
| Producers | Genesis,Hugh Padgham | |||
| Genesis singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Mama" is a song by the English rock bandGenesis, released as the first single in 1983 from theirself-titled album. It is recognisable for its harshdrum machine introduction composed byMike Rutherford, which leads into minimalist synthesizer lines in a minor tonality and finallyPhil Collins'reverb-laden voice. It remains the band's most successful single in the UK, peaking at No. 4 on theUK singles chart.[3] It also made the top 10 in Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Ireland and the Netherlands. It was less popular in the US, only reaching No. 73 on theBillboard Hot 100.[4] A 1992 re-release of the single managed to reach the Top 40 in Germany.[5]
The song's theme involves a young man's longing for a particularprostitute. On the DVDThe Genesis Songbook, the band and producerHugh Padgham revealed that the inspiration for Collins' menacing laugh came fromrap music pioneerGrandmaster Flash's song "The Message".
From the 1983 GenesisThree into One Wavelength 3-LP vinyl radio show interview:
Our manager, when he first heard it, thought it was about abortion, the kind of feeling of the, you know, the fetus, if you like, saying to the Mother 'Please give me a chance, can't you feel my heart, don't take away my last chance', all those lyrics are in the song but in fact what it is, is just about a young teenager that's got a mother fixation with a prostitute that he's just happened to have met in passing and he has such a strong feeling for her and doesn't understand why she isn't interested in him. It's a bit like [British actor]David Niven inThe Moon's a Balloon, I don't know if you've read that book, he's very young, just come out of cadet college or whatever, and he meets this quite, you know, 45-year-old prostitute who he has a fantastic time with. He's special to her but it definitely can't go any further than what it is and that's really what the song is about, with sinister overtones.
— Phil Collins
TheLinn LM-1 rhythm was programmed by Mike Rutherford, rather than drummer Collins. It was fed through an AMS RMX-16 reverb on thegated reverb setting and then into aFender amplifier (though Mike Rutherford remembers it was aMesa/Boogie model) with a large amount of distortion.[6][7] The signal from the amp was mixed with a direct signal from the Linn to give the drum sound some character. Tony Banks used aSynclavier,ARP Quadra,E-mu Emulator, andSequential Circuits Prophet-10 in the recording. The Quadra's rhythmic pulses were triggered by the 16th note hi-hat pattern coming from the Linn drum machine. A low E drone was recorded on the Prophet-10 through most of the song. Akoto, which happened to be in the studio one day, was sampled into the Emulator and used in the song because it was felt that no other sound worked in the section.[6]
The music video for the song plays out the lyrics, showing Collins singing to a mysterious woman while Banks and Rutherford play in the background. The video is shot in a sepia tone until halfway through when colour fades in.
There are at least four versions of the studio recording of "Mama": the original, full-length cut (7:27, released as a 12" single and later as a CD single, backed by the full-length 6:27 version of "It's Gonna Get Better", also in a shortened version on theGenesis album); a somewhat early-faded version (6:46, released on theGenesis album itself); an edited version (6:07, released as a 7" single and on the compilation albumTurn It On Again – Best of '81–'83); and a heavily edited version (5:18, released on the promotional video, promo DJ 7" and 12" singles, and the 1999 compilation albumTurn It On Again: The Hits). An extremely rare 3:30 and heavily edited version was released on a 1983 Italian promo 7-inch. A 10:43 "work in progress" take from the 1983 sessions is included at the end of the third disc ofGenesis Archive 2: 1976–1992. This demonstrated how Genesis would try out new songs; the band would play while Phil Collins would just sing anything that came to mind, normally without actual words.
The song was played live during the Mama Tour,Invisible Touch,[8]We Can't Dance (only for the first shows),[9]Calling All Stations[10] (withRay Wilson on vocals),Turn It On Again andThe Last Domino?[11] tours.
A live version appears on their albumsThe Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts andLive Over Europe 2007, and their DVDsGenesis Live at Wembley Stadium andWhen in Rome 2007. The song also appears on the 1985home video releaseThe Mama Tour.
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Germany (BVMI)[30] | Gold | 500,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[31] | Silver | 250,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
"Mama" was covered by the bandMagellan on the 1996Genesis tribute albumSupper's Ready. The song was also covered by the Frenchextreme metal bandCarnival in Coal and released on their albumFrench Cancan (1999). Brazilianpower metal bandAngra covered the song on their EPHunters and Prey (2002). "Mama" was covered by the Finnishheavy metal bandTarot as the second track on the single for "Undead Son", the only single release from their 2003 albumSuffer Our Pleasures.
| Studio albums | |
|---|---|
| Live albums | |
| Compilations | |
| Box sets | |
| EPs | |
| Singles |
|
| Other songs | |
| Video albums | |
| Tours | |
| Related musicians | |
| Related articles | |
