Amanda Palmer - A Mother's Confession Lyrics

There's such a taboo against admitting how tough motherhood is. AFP cares not a jot and goes one further and expresses the may-not-be-voiced constant worry that your baby might die. This song is stark and wonderfully comforting.

I needed this.

Sang this with you from the audience in the Cork Opera House.

I love that Amanda is so open and honest. We’ve all had these moments that we are so sure we are terrible humans and pray no one else ever finds out. If only there were more Amanda Palmers in this world. Remember to practice radical compassion!

Yes every day x

This song of catharsis is deeply impacting me right now. I've been a mom for 12 years and I personally connected with every vignette you wrote about. My second daughter was very fussy. I mean, very very sad most of the time between six months and her first birthday. One day, when she was about eight months old, my husband came home from work and the baby had been screaming with me trying various things to calm her for over an hour. So, I went for a walk. And he took over. It wasn't a long walk, maybe around four or five square blocks. About two blocks away from our house, as I was coming back, feeling a little better, but still rattled, I heard her crying still. From two blocks away. And I walked those two blocks just weeping. We're all just trying to do the best we can so that they can even grow up. She's seven, and so much better. But we had some intense stuff happen over the years. These moments, these low points, they aren't for forever. And the fog lifts at some point. And we have these "at least"s listed in our minds that help us get through. It's so important to acknowledge that these low points happen. Because sometimes, it hard to pull out of those moments. And if we know that others have experienced them and everyone lived, it may give us hope that we can come through it, too. Thank you, Amanda Palmer. Thank you for your gifts. Thank you for your heart. Thank you for your stories. Thank you for your honesty, and for your spirit, and your truth.

I love this so very much

who's kid hasnt rolled of a changing table. mine was because i forgot we were out of diapers and the new ones were in the front room.

As a Mum of toddler this made me laugh and cry.

I came here after the video whit its black friday beautifull music !!

it lit . fabulous <3

Magnificient

Obrigado por tudo Amanda, você é simplesmente incrível <3

Thank you Amanda for all your art and heart.
I cried towards the end,
Thinking of my nephew who passed at age 3.
Just visited him yesterday, and more family and friends in the cemetery.
I think that life goes on and I've made peace with death.
And then I stand there in front of him and it's heartbreaking.

I don’t understand how people are saying that this song is a work of genius. This song is musically horrible, and I’m horrified at the fact that she left her baby unattended on a shelf, in a car, and let a stranger who was DRINKING hold her child! Are you out of your motherfucking mind!?

At least the baby didn’t die? At most, your baby might end up brain damaged, and if not, he’ll likely resent you for capitalizing on his suffering portrayed in this song.

Please see a psychiatric medical professional ASAP.

SuperMeToTheRescue congrats on listening 2 this whole song w/o absorbing a single piece of information. that’s actually super impressive

The lyrics are full of emotion, really poetic, and you may think it is musically horrible, everyone has different opinions, bu it just reflects how she's feeling (if it was upbeat or symmetrical, it wouldn't match the theme of the song at all).
And, if you read the other comments, you'd see she isn't the only one that did irresponsible things to her child. Every single person I know has at leas one story like that to tell about their first time as a parent (or second time, like my mother, who almost accidentally drowned my little brother). That is the reality of motherhood, you never know everything about it and you will do crazy things out of instinct.
That doesn't make her not-guilty of anything she might have done, but that also doesn't mean she needs a psichiatric or anything like that.

Sorry for any spelling mistake, english isn't my first language. Have a good day!

you take a chill pill

You sure are amazingly incapable of absorbing/knowing/or even reasoning out the meaning of anything, huh?

Amanda, just a question - it's pretty inevitable that Ash will listen to this one day; how do you think he'll receive it?

Not my kind of music. Not my preferred musical feeling. Started to cry never the less at the end... thaha

I've written this in a few different places, because I don't know if Amanda has seen it yet, so here we go again: when I first heard this song, I burst out laughing at a very inappropriate moment - because I was that baby.


One of my first memories is of being locked in a hot car in the summer by mistake. I was three years old and I was sulking, so when everyone went inside, I hung back - but the child lock activated when my brother closed the door behind him. My parents assumed I had wandered off to play somewhere, which I did a lot, so when they noticed I was missing they looked all over the house, but they didn't think to check the car until I'd already been in there for nearly an hour. By that time I was hyperthermic, dehydrated, terrified, sobbing and crawling all over the car trying to get one of the doors open. I remember crying when my mother carried me into the house and telling her I was sorry that I'd wet my pants. That night I had a seizure in my sleep.


My parents were, and still are, horrified about what happened. They felt, and still feel, terrible for not noticing that I wasn't with them, for taking so long to find me, for not teaching me how to unlock the doors in an emergency - but honestly, I don't blame them for any of it. It's an awful memory, and I wish it hadn't happened, but it was an accident. Just an accident.


And at least the baby didn't die.


Amanda, I hope you read this, because I know you've had a lot of parents tell you how much they relate to this song and how cathartic it is to hear someone else's confessions. Not being a parent, I have no idea what it feels like; but as the baby who didn't die, I want you to know that it's okay. It really is okay.

This has become my matra even though Im childless.... it kinda puts everything it perspective.

I've listened to this song on repeat since the demo was released, and I still can't stop crying

I love this song. There are moments that make me smile, because I've been there. And there are moments that make me choke up, because I feel them even now, and my trans son will be 15 a week from Saturday. And there are moments that I just deeply wish I could hug you.

its a freaking classic.

My baby z is 11 weeks old today. This song is amazing. We listened to it together all day in the car today. Thank you for all that you do. I appreciate you.

Love it!

Amanda F*cking Palmer. You're my new spirit animal. <3

Been singing the chorus all week!

In the part of the woman in the bar i started to cry, i mean, fuck, that small gesture of carrying the baby to say hi, fuck, if only people were more generous, and caring, and accepting... fuck, i can't even say how much Amanda's songs are amazing. she's amazing. thou... i mean.... we can all be too...

Wow ❤️🙏

Anyone else hear the distortion at 7:17 when she says "to me"? I never noticed until I had headphones in. I wonder if this is what she meant by the "mixing issues" she mentioned

My favorite song from the album. Incredibly powerful and raw.

Questions unanwsered: What the hell is DSS?

Department of Social Services or something similar. Maybe she means CPS?

@quasimeowdo I'm not entirely sure if this is just a Massachusetts thing (?) But DSS (which I think got turned into the Department of Children and Families) was the place to call about domestic issues, or at least it was when I was a kid.

Oh, the humanity! Such beauty and honesty!! The best theme of the year!

" At leeeasst the baby didn't die~" ♪

A work of pure genius. Amanda Palmer might inadvertently save the world by flinging songs like this around. Or at least make you feel a little better and part of it all.

Great song, I would share it with my wife except our second and third were miscarriages. I don't know how it would make her feel.

a7i20ci7y When Tim Farris interviewed Amanda Palmer (recently), she talked about her miscarriage. She was alone, at Christmas, in a hotel room, after she had her son Ash. It was really powerful for me. Maybe you could give it a listen, and see if you think it might be worth sharing with your wife. I’m sorry for your wife’s loss, and I’m sorry for yours. Here’s a gentle reminder that dad’s can grieve too. Take care of each other. Best wishes. ♥️

I cried when I first heard this live in Vienna. It's so honest and lovely. Thank you

Patrick Brandstätter Hey fellow Viennese! Seeya in September?

sure ;) @Moonshadow Garden

Realistically beautiful. It is not lost on me that you released this on International Women's Day❤️

This song captures how I feel as parent every day. My youngest just turned 7 and my oldest will be 17 in April, and I have never heard music that brings the rawness of mother into the light like this. Thank you for sharing and helping all us struggling parents not feel so alone in our mistakes.

Oh my god, thank you again

JC i can't even...i wont mind if this whole album became a Play...

This will always be one of my favourites <3

I really didn't expect I'd be crying so much in the end. Thank you.

I love mum confession sessions with my friends. Makes me feel human again!

YES this was one of my favorites

LOL. Every new parent does strange and bizarre things as they adjust to having to monitor and care for a new miniature human who is helpless. Take heart, you are smart and will adapt soon. Eventually you find that the rewards are greater than the downside, and this is the purpose of life, ie to have babies, so relax and enjoy the ride. New baby can scare the shit out of new parents because the parents care. What's wrong with that? Crying and laughing at the same time. Stop doing this to me Amanda.

I am now bawling. This is beautiful. Thank you so much for your art.

Perfection. As always. ❤