I scream at you for sharing
I curse you just for caring
I hate the clothes you're wearing, they're so pretty
I tell you not to see me
I tell you not to feel me
I make your life a drag, it's such a pity

I watch your warm glow palin'
I watch your sparkle fadin'
As you realize you're failin' 'cause' you're so good
Oh, I don't mean to upset you
But there's so much crime to get through
If I could make it easier then I would

I wish I was your mother, I wish I'd been your father
And then I would have seen you, would have been you as a child
Played houses with your sisters and wrestled with all your brothers
And then who knows, I might have felt a family for a while

It's no use me pretending
You give and I do the spending
Is there a happy ending, I don't think so
'Cause even if we make it
I'll be too far out to take it
You'll have to try and shake it from my head

I wish I was your mother, I wish I'd been your father
And then I would have seen you, would have been you as a child
Played house with your sisters and wrestled with all your brothers
And then who knows, I might have felt a family for a while


Lyrics submitted by nagromnai

I Wish I Was Your Mother Lyrics as written by Ian Hunter

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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I Wish I Was Your Mother song meanings
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2 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    am also surprised to see no comments on this great Mott song. Ian Hunter was one of the great ones of the 70's. Look also for Alejandro Escovedo's incredibly moving version of this tune. Ian Hunter summed up in a few stanzas the narrator's childhood hell and the sociopath it created as an adult, capped by the line..."is there a happy ending? i don't think so".

    rocampionon October 26, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    I am very surprised nobody has commented on this amazing song. I knew the Dramarama version long before I realized it was a Mott the Hoople song. I love the fucking depressing lyrics mixed with the upbeat tempo and major key. I think it's about a failing relationship, the singer positing that everything that's wrong with this couple is his fault because he's damaged goods. He wishes he could understand her, but that would basically require having grown up in her family. I like to dance around and sing along to this song, particularly a live Wilco version I found online.

    sharkycharmingon April 12, 2011   Link

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