Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Mother's Day: My Mother's Eyes 世上只有媽媽好

Songs I Love:

One of the most pleasant songs about mothers is My Mother's Eyes by Abel Baer and L. Wolfe Gilbert. It is from a film, Lucky Boy, screened in 1929. The lyrics are easy to remember with its rhyming couplet:


One bright and guiding light, 
That taught me wrong from right
I found in my mother's eyes

Those baby tales she told
That road all paved with gold
I found in my mother's eyes

Then the form changes with the chorus:
My Mother's Eyes by Russ Hamilton. YouTube Video by Li-Moh Chuah. Thank you.

Chorus:

Just like a wandering sparrow, 
One lonely soul, 
I walk the straight and narrow, 
To reach my goal.

God's gift sent from above, 
A real unselfish love, 
I found in my mother's eyes.  
Depending on who is carrying the song, the vocabulary varies a little. The present lyrics was Russ Hamilton's recording, ingrained a long time ago. There's also an introductory verse to the song, somehow not used by many singers, and it goes like this:

Back in childhood days, 
I can remember loving caresses showered on me. 
Mother's eyes would gaze at me so tender, 
What was their meaning? 
Now I can see.


Don't forget to check out the jazz clip below by Kenny Ball.  Exactly halfway through his Jazzmen take over and you won't believe it could be the same lullaby. You just wanna swing with them!

Singers and Instrumentalists who recorded, My Mother's Eyes:


The first lot includes Frankie Valli, Tom Jones, Russ Hamilton, George Jessel, Ella Fitzgerald, The Mills Brothers, Etta Jones, Tab Smith, Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen, Lonnie Johnson, Kevin Coyne, Nellie Lutcher, Sydney Devine and David Newton.
It is a simple tune and should be taught to the children. Tom Jones puts more soul in his voice and gives the song a new life. It's a personal choice. 

There's also Nancy Sinatra, Roland Stone, Christine Tyrrell, Karl Denver, Linda Hopkins, The Royal Teens and many others.



Folks, what gives. Does this one bring back memories? It was played everywhere in Singapore 60's.  Yes, but mostly the Russ Hamilton pressing. Come on give us your take on this lullaby.  Or is it a lullaby?  

This posting is for all mums. A Happy Mother's Day!
My Mother's Eyes by Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen. YouTube Video by

Images: Google. 

22 comments:

Unk Dicko said...

Great job bringing them all in one place ! Keep it going Andy.

BATURO said...

Thanks Andy. It's a beautiful song and I have this version on Karaoke.

HAL said...

Lovely, thanks.

OB said...

Tks Andy.Happy Mother's Day.

LKM said...

Songs of love for our mothers always warm our hearts. A popular Chinese version of yesteryear was sung by Xiao Fang Fang. I wonder whether there are similar Malay, Indian version of songs of love for mothers:)

DR LEE YAN SAN from PENANG said...

Thanks Andy. Still prefer Russ Hamilton's version. Miss him.
Cheers!

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thank you everyone for the comments. Appreciate the replies. I know it is difficult to key in the comment page with so much security measures. I wish BLOGSPOT could make some changes to make it easier for readers to write in.

If you know my email address just write a direct reply and I shall transfer the message.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Check out Dr Lee's postings by clicking on his name. His very good friend was Russ Hamilton who sang 'My Mother's Eyes' and other pop hits. Hamilton had passed away some years ago.

Like what Yan San said, I still prefer Hamilton's version. Makes for a great Mother's Day number.

I am also looking into LKM's suggestion to post songs of love about mothers in Indian, Chinese and Malay. If there are readers out there who are familiar please contribute.

CYL said...

The song, "Mother of mine, you gave to me..." has both lyrics and melody that tug at the heart strings. I read KM's query about such songs in Malay and I can remember a pantun? "Aiyoh mama , mama jangan marah beta..."

All the best in your endeavour

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thank you CYL for taking the trouble to write. Appreciate your encouragement and the Malay song you contributed. I shall ask friends about it. Sounds familiar.

LKM FACEBOOK said...

Would like to share this blog authored by a good friend, Mr Andy Lim. If you are interested in Spore's 60s music, then you should visit his blog which is an interesting read. Btw in his younger days he sang with the popular group, The Silver Strings.

LIM KUAN MIN FACEBOOK said...

"Hello Mr Andy Lim alias Andy Young. You vanished from fb for a while and finally resurface. Hope my fb friends do visit your blog which has a wide international readership. Young Singaporeans interested in our local history of popular music will find lots of interesting snippets in your blog. So keep writing, Mr Andy Young!"

RickieChng said...

Hi Andy morning,

I just saw your blog on the old classic, my mother's eye. Honestly preferred the old Russ Hamilton but Kenny Ball & The Jazzmen version also go down well too.

Cheers.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Gee, thanks Rickie for your positive response. Must meet and chat about songs. I just love many of them.

Thanks to LKM again for the continuous support. I am back on FB, hopefully to get some stories from other readers.

suituapui said...

I like Russ Hamilton's My Mother's Eyes best. When I was a kid, my father had the LP record. I don't think it's a lullaby - years later, I was singing another Russ Hamilton's song to put my little girl to sleep - "Little One". That's a nice lullaby.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thank you for the visit and comments about the song. I tried logging on to your blog but couldn't get in. You've got a great site too and I enjoy the postings.

MICHAEL LEE said...

Hi Andy - a song worthy for all mother - who is someone you can have only one regardless or race, country. religion or culture. Cheerio

JIMMY APPUDURIA-CHUA said...

yes Andy Russ Hamilton..love his 10 song LP.....jimmy

KOH SUI PANG said...

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers ..😘😘😘😘😘

JOEY KOH said...

Happy Mother's Day to your wonderful wife, brother Andy Young 🌹💖😊

FACEBOOK said...

thanks to the following for liking this post
John Cher
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Ericbronson Wong
Koh Sui Pang
Rose Khoo
Jennie Law
Jalani Mohamed
Joey Koh
Jimmy Appudurai-chua
Van Der Beek Philip
Foo Jong Fook
Charlie Yap Locomotion
Rodney Tan
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Nyonya Jenny Yeo
Michael Fonseca

Dr. Lee said...

Happy Mother's Day!