Our grandparents are a huge part of our lives. Without them, we wouldn’t even be here. The wisdom they’ve gathered their entire lives are some of the best pieces of knowledge we can apply in ours. Besides, who doesn’t love receiving food and gifts from them?
With all the love they have to offer, it’s not surprising for thousands of artists to pay homage to them through their songs. In this article, we’ll introduce you to ten of the best songs about our grandmothers.
Songs About Grandma
1. “Supermarket Flowers” by Ed Sheeran
Anne Sheeran is Ed’s grandmother who inspired him and his brother Matthew to pursue careers in music. She’s also a musician, and she made such an impact on Ed that he wrote a song about her after she passed away.
“Supermarket Flowers” talks about the very day Ed cleaned up her hospital room. Ed Sheeran also wrote “Afire Love” for his grandfather and “Nancy Mulligan,” which talks about the love story of his grandparents.
2. “Grandma’s Feather Bed” by John Denver
All of us know John Denver for singing and popularizing songs like “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” However, what brings Denver to our list this time is a song called “Grandma’s Feather Bed.”
In this song, Denver talks about all the memories he had with his grandmother and how she has a big feather bed, which Denver thought was the best thing he could find in his grandma’s house.
3. “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi
Probably one of the saddest songs Lewis Capaldi has ever written, “Someone You Loved” seems to be a song about a past lover on its surface level. However, this is actually about Capaldi’s grandmother.
While he was writing his album called Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, two of his relatives passed away, one of which was his grandma, inspiring him to write “Someone You Loved.” Capaldi almost shelved the song because he felt it wasn’t good enough, which is probably why it took him six months to finish.
4. “Look What You’ve Done” by Drake
Of all the popular artists right now aside from Ed Sheeran, Drake is perhaps the second one who talks and sings openly about his family. In his track “Look What You’ve Done,” he pays homage and gratitude for his family’s support not just with his career but his entire life.
Towards the end of the song, Drake plays a phone message from his grandma where she thanks him for taking care of her and for allowing her to live well in her age. Drake also sings about his grandma in a few songs such as “The Resistance” and “The Winner.”
5. “Grandma’s Garden” by Zac Brown
Anyone who grew up with grandmothers knows how much they love tending to a garden. “Grandma’s Garden” from Zac Brown talks about how his grandmother grows her garden and how it’s a metaphor for their family.
“She’d say, ‘I love to watch the seeds I’ve planted.’
Grow up into what they oughta be
Oh, I thought she was talking about tomatoes
She was talking about her family”
The song further talks about how his grandma was an integral piece of ensuring that the garden, or Brown’s family, grows strong and well.
“Grandma’s garden grew up strong
Because she weeded out whatever could go wrong
She’d say the straight and narrow is the toughest row to hoe
Just remember what you reap is what you sow
Grandma’s love is what gave Grandma’s garden growth”
6. “Tell You Something” by Alicia Keys
None of us can probably count how many times we’ve regretted not being able to say something to someone before it’s too late. Alicia Keys was well aware of this, which is why she wrote the song “Tell You Something,” with an alternative title of “Nana’s Reprise.”
Back in 2007, Keys witnessed how her grandmother suffered from an illness. She was a very influential person in Keys’s life, and she knew she had to tell her grandmother everything she needed to know before she went.
7. “Helena” by My Chemical Romance
Gerard Way, in MCR’s book called Not the Life It Seems: The True Lives of My Chemical Romance, said that “Helena” was simultaneously the most personal, special, and difficult song and video the band has ever produced. The story in the music video narrates how a man was sent to hell after a car crash and wishes he could see his girl, Helena, again while he’s saying his goodbyes.
The entire album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge was supposed to revolve around this love story of two lovers being reunited. However, during its production, Way’s grandmother Elena Lee Rush passed away. The band then decided to add tributes on their songs in the album to Way’s grandmother.
In one of their tours, Way even went on to instruct the crown to look to the sky and say, “Hey, Grandma! What’s up?” This is not surprising, considering that Elena was the one who taught Way almost everything he knew about art, from singing to painting to drawing.
8. “Grandma’s Hands” by Bill Withers
Believe it or not, Bill Withers used to have a stutter, and when he was a kid, he was frequently picked on. It was his grandmother who stayed by his side and believed in him. He said that this influence made a really huge difference in his life.
As a tribute to his grandmother, he wrote “Grandma’s Hands,” which talks about how his grandmother’s hands seem to have different effects on him and the people around her. The song was such a huge hit that artists such as Barbra Streisand, Livingston Taylor, Tony Orlando, and Will Downing, among others, covered and recorded versions of it as well.
The band Blackstreet also made a song called “No Diggity,” which you might be familiar with after watching the film Pitch Perfect. This song was based on a sample from “Grandma’s Hands.”
9. “My Angel” by Kellie Pickler
Kellie Pickler went all out in this song and sang everything she wanted to say to her grandmother. The song is like her letter to her grandma, whom she sees as her guardian angel.
“You were like my mother
You were my best friend
You were everything I want to be
And all the good inside of me
There’s never been
Never been another
That loved me like you did
My grandmother, my angel”
All the lines in this song are certainly things we want to say to our grandmas, too.
10. “Grandma’s House” by Killer Mike
If there’s grandma’s garden and hands, there’s also “Grandma’s House” from Killer Mike. In this song, Killer Mike narrates his life, which starts off with;
“This is a story of a boy
This is a story of a boy who became a man
This is a story of a man who endured a struggle
This is my story”
He goes on to talk about all the things he experienced growing up and how much he has learned about life in his grandma’s house.
Conclusion
It’s very difficult to imagine how our lives would turn out to be without the love and guidance of our grandparents, especially our grandmas. That’s why we try to do our best and give them the recognition and gratitude they deserve.
While there are plenty of ways to do that, some artists choose to write a song. The next time you’re with your grandma or want to remember the life she lived, make sure you have these songs to sing along to.