Never Miss Your Mama Till She's Gone

Drove home last night during a great (and rare for these parts) thunderstorm. I've been recording using a shoebox cassette recorder, an upgrade from the handheld microcasette recorder I've been using. The sound is pretty accurate, and also captures a warmth that the digital recordings don't have. I'm hoping at some point to release a limited run of cassettes. Anyways, I set up the recorder on the porch and played the fretless, tuned to gCGCD from just inside my front door. The song is called Never Miss Your Mama Till She's Gone. I first heard it from the Black Twigs, and subsequently have heard it on the Old Originals Volume 1 LP, as played by Dent Wimmer, who as far as I know came up with the tune. But don't quote me as I haven't looked too deeply into it. The twigs play it at a slower, more mournful pace which seems to fit the content of the song well. Dent's playing is a little more raucous, though it still captures the lonesome feeling of the tune. There are words to this one. I haven't quite nailed down the art of singing and playing at the same time, so I just focused on playing. A sample of some of the lyrics are... Never miss your mama till she's gone Never miss your mama till she's gooooooone Miss your mamaaaaa Gonna miss her some sweet day You never miss your mama till she's gone Neighbor will tell you what to do Neighbor will tell you what to doooooo Neighbor will tell yoooouuuu Then he'll turn his back on you O you'll never miss your mama till she's gone Sister will do the best she can Sister will do the best she caaaaan Sister will doooo But she just don't understand Never miss your mama till she's gone When I first heard the song a few years ago, I figured it was about losing your wife or girlfriend, and regretting not appreciating her while she's around (you don't miss your water till your well runs dry, etc.). But the references to sister and father, and the absence of something like 'mother will do the best she can', in the song implies that this is literally mama, mother. If it really is about missing your mother, then I have to congratulate Dent Wimmer on writing a mother-related song that isn't sappy. Either way, the mood of the song fits how I've been feeling the last few days, and it literally just came out without any premeditation, just played it once while the tape rolled and the rain fell and that was it.