♪♫ ♪ ♪♫

Mother Mother
Tracy Bonham
The Burdens of Being Upright
1996

Sigh.

The nineties. 

Tracy Bonham rode the wave of alternative rock women that kind of define a big aspect of the nineties for me.  These women were doing something that seemed kind of different...or maybe they were continuing something, but doing it louder and with more attitude.  They were bitches, they were lovers, sinners and saints and they did not feel ashamed (à la Meredith Brooks--another one-hit wonder). 

I remember the music video for Mother Mother.  It featured Tracy Bonham's actual mother vacuuming or sweeping or something while Tracy Bonham screamed from inside the television flickering in the corner of the room.  I bought this album used at the C'Dement that was on Ste. Catherine across from Sam the Record Man.  It still has a sticky patch on the cover from the price sticker.  I remember the amount of time I spent in those two stores.  All the discoveries I made.  All the money I spent.

I think the thing that stands the test of time or the span of Tracy Bonham's career is how there is something kind of strange about this song.  The combination of violins, drums and acoustic guitar.  Tracy Bonham's kind of off voice and those screamed choruses.  At three minutes it hits like a punch. 

I like the idea that there are all these different sides to ourselves and that we are different things to different people ("Are you sure that I'm your perfect dear?").  And that it's okay if everything's not exactly fine.  Moreover, we don't have to pretend that everything is fine.  We can scream.  We can get angry.  We can test things out.  We can fuck up.