The most beautiful love songs aren't about summer romances or the anguish over “The One Who Got Away,” they’re about family. I think Colbie Caillat and Jason Mraz songs are cute, but they're really meant for contestants auditioning for The Voice. They lack the level of intensity and intimacy a love song meant for a family member inherently has.
Kanye West-“Hey Momma”
“I appreciate what you allowed for me / I just want you to be proud of me.”
Kanye West is a cultural figure who’s largely known as selfish, self-centered, and self-obsessed, due to his frequent, egomaniacal media freak-outs. The only thing this hip-hop artist isn't is self-aware. However, in 2005’s Late Registration, his obnoxious, attention-seeking persona becomes entirely absent in the track, “Hey Momma.” The song is a sincere, loving tribute to his mom, Donda West, who took care of him as a single, working mother. The lyrics are pure, wild emotion; a heartfelt declaration of love that he needs to express and display. He's not trying to be flashy and flamboyant; he's trying to be raw and honest. In Yeezus’s “I Am A God,” Kanye wants us to see him as a powerful, godlike force of nature, but with “Hey Momma,” we’re given a glimpse of Kanye as someone who used to be a vulnerable, dependent child.
Warren Zevon-“Keep Me In Your Heart”
“Sometimes when you're doing simple things around the house / Maybe you'll think of me and smile.”
In 2002, this folk-rock singer was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, which prompted him to start recording The Wind, his final album. The last track on The Wind, “Keep Me In Your Heart,” is easily his most touching song by a mile. “Keep Me In Your Heart” reads like a letter to his loved ones, close friends and family alike. He calmly assures them that death may take away his life, but it'll never diminish the love shared between them, because real love can’t be so easily destroyed. He’ll live on in their memories, good and bad, significant and ordinary; He’ll continue to be a presence in their lives, so long as they keep him in their hearts. Zevon was able to live long enough to see the release of The Wind on August 26, 2003 and died roughly two weeks later on September 7, 2003.
Drake-“Look What You’ve Done”
“Know that I'm your sister's kid / but it still don't explain the love that you have for me.”
A ballad to both his mom and his uncle, “Look What You've Done” is a love song about family that doesn't hide the occasional ugliness that family brings out in us. Parents are the closest people alive that know us the most; as a result, they know exactly what to say to hurt us the hardest. However, despite the tense and heated arguments, Drake acknowledges how dependent he was of his mom, and how much his mom needed him as well. The second half of the song details how Drake's uncle decided to take a more active part of Drake's life, acting as a much needed father figure for him. Like everyone else, our loved ones-the people we look up to, have faults. Instead of staying disappointed in them, we need to encourage and support them, just like they did for us.
Avett Brothers-“Murder In The City”
He said, "I love you and I'm proud of you both/ in so many different ways."
Sibling insecurities are raised in The Second Gleam's "Murder In The City," as the two brothers ponder and muse over which one their parents prefer and love the most. The track eventually comes to the conclusion that the love their parents have for both brothers is immeasurable, giving them the realization that there's no greater love than the love shared between family.
