A Very Serious Question
Okay all you lyricists out there, I need to know the answer to an all-important question. Is it ever appropriate to use the phrase "sweet mama" in a song? -- I mean today, almost 2010, not in 1978. I have a song where "sweet mama" would indeed just be perfect - it's a hippy dippy sing-along, sort of The Partridge Family meets The Five Man Electrical Band tune. Oh yeah, "sweet mama" in passing would be the campy perfect lyric to pull the chorus together, maybe in counterpoint through some lo fi mic. But I need the approval from a peer, any peer -- that's you! I need the go ahead before I can track "sweet mama!" Boston used "pretty mama" and "sweet delight" in the same verse, and Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers got away with it. So how about it? I've asked two gurus, Paul Hoaglin and Brad Brooks, but neither one has answered. So I'm asking you - and I know you're reading 'cause I see the stats - Can I use "sweet mama" in some campy ass lyrical way, or should I avoid it like the plague? I'll post the best answer, and a snippet of the chorus once it's tracked. Thanks! I really need to know! Please send your answers to ShayScott7@comcast.net