New Mama
"New Mama" is a song by Neil Young, recorded initially for his 1973 album Tonight's the Night.
| "New Mama" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Neil Young | |
| from the album Tonight's the Night | |
| Released | June 20, 1975 |
| Recorded | September 10, 1973 |
| Studio | Studio Instrument Rentals, Hollywood |
| Genre | Folk rock |
| Length | 2:11 |
| Label | Reprise |
| Songwriter(s) | Neil Young |
| Producer(s) |
|
It is said to have been inspired by the birth in 1972 of Zeke, his son with Carrie Snodgress.[1] It is a slow song with sparse instrumentation—guitar, piano, and vibes.
Critics have described the song as "tender"[2] and "poignantly lovely,"[1] but noted also that while it offered "some hope in family life," Tonight's the Night as a whole, an album of mourning, "did not offer solutions to the personal and professional problems it posed."[3]
New mama's got a sun in her eyes
No clouds are in my changing skies
Each morning when I wake up to rise
I'm livin' in a dreamland.
Stephen Stills recorded the song for the 1975 album Stills. Young referred to the song on his 1982 album Trans, in the song "Transformer Man" ("Every morning when I look in your eyes, / I feel electrified by you"), and in "Big Time", a song from his 1996 album Broken Arrow ("I'm still living in dreamland").[4]
References
- The Mojo Collection (4 ed.). Canongate. 2007. ISBN 9781847676436.
- Bielen, Kenneth G. (2008). The Words and Music of Neil Young. Praeger. p. 32. ISBN 9780275999025.
- Woodstra, Chris; Bush, John; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas, eds. (2007). All Music Guide Required Listening: Classic Rock. Hal Leonard. ISBN 9780879309176.
- Williams, Paul (2011). Neil Young: Love to Burn. Omnibus. pp. 92, 128. ISBN 9780857127334.