"Mama" is a song by the British girl group the Spice Girls. It was written by the Spice Girls, Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, and produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album Spice, released in November 1996. "Mama" is a pop ballad that features instrumentation from keyboards, a rhythm guitar, a cello, and a violin, and its lyrics deal with the difficulties in relationships between mothers and daughters that appear during their childhood.

It was released as a double A-side with "Who Do You Think You Are", and became the official single of the 1997 Comic Relief. Its Big TV! directed music video, featured the group singing to an audience of children and their own mothers. Despite receiving mixed reviews from music critics, "Mama" was commercially successful. Released as the album's fourth single in March 1997, it became their fourth consecutive number-one single in the United Kingdom, which made the Spice Girls the first act in UK chart history to have its first four singles reach number one. It was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The single performed well internationally, reaching the top ten in many European countries and New Zealand, and the top fifteen in Australia.

Writing and inspiration

"Mama" was written by the Spice Girls with songwriting partners Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard. In an interview about the writing process between the group and the duo, Rowe credits Mel B as the one who came up with the song's concept. During the writing process, each member wrote a small verse in a different corner of the recording studio, while the chorus was finished around the piano with a guitar. Then, the producers added a gospel choir filled with the group's harmonies at the end of the song. Brown explained the song's inspiration in the book Real Life: Real Spice The Official Story:

<blockquote>

We wrote 'Mama' when I was going through a bad phase with my mum. The sentiments are really that your mum's probably the best friend that you've got. Whether she's an over-protective mother or a bit of a landmine, she probably knows you better than yourself in some ways.

</blockquote>

In the same book, Melanie C further elaborated: "'Mama's all about how you're such a cow to your mum when you're going through that rebellious teenage stage. Then when you get a bit older, you realise that whatever she was doing, she was only doing it for your own good. And you think: 'God, I was really horrible.'" The song is constructed in a verse-chorus form, with a bridge before the third chorus,

It opens with an instrumental introduction, with a chord progression of D–E–Fm–E/G–A, that is used in the entire song.

Reception

Critical response

"Mama" received mixed reviews from music critics. The Daily Mirror criticised the song saying "Yuk! We don't want our Spice Girls sweet, ta very much. They should concentrate on the raunch and let Daniel O'Donnell take care of the mums." Dev Sherlock of Yahoo! Music Radio called it a "glossy ballad that would do Mariah Carey proud". Edna Gundersen of the USA Today said that their album Spice "is assembly-line dance-pop", adding that "only the funky 'Say You'll Be There' and touchingly cornball 'Mama' hint at depth".

In a review of their album Spice, Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly called it "a fearlessly corny ballad", and added that it "will likely keep them from being one-hit wonders in America". Melissa Ruggieri of the Richmond Times-Dispatch said that in the song, the girls "are sunny vocalists who harmonize with perfumey sweetness when called upon". Daniel Incognito of Sputnikmusic said that in "Mama" the group "sing with heartfelt emotion", and added that "their somewhat amateurish singing is brought up and pushed along by the production crew, harmonising nicely into a stirring pop hook".

Chart performance

thumb|right|240px|The group performing "Mama" at the [[Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada, during the Return of the Spice Girls tour, with the backdrop screens showing a picture of their mothers.]]

"Mama" was released in the UK as a double A-side single with "Who Do You Think You Are" on 3 March 1997. It debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number one on Mother's Day, with sales of 248,000 copies, becoming the group's fourth consecutive chart-topper. It spent three weeks at number one, nine weeks in the top forty, fifteen weeks in the top seventy-five, earning a platinum certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

"Mama" was commercially successful in Europe. It peaked at number three on the Eurochart Hot 100, It also shows each mother of the girls holding a picture of their daughter.

There are two versions of the music video, which are edited slightly differently to one another.

The original video features the crowd chanting "Spice Girls," then Geri and Emma arriving at the stage in a convertible, Victoria and Mel B entering the stage through a set of wooden French doors, and Mel C arriving on the stage by sliding down a rope. It has a young boy directing the show, and has Emma start the singing standing up on stage.

Whereas the re-edited version pans to the girls already sat in a circle on stage, along with a slide show displaying photos of the real band members as children. This version has Emma start the singing sitting down on her stool.

About the shoot, Victoria Beckham commented: "It took such a long time to film the 'Mama' video, but it was nice that our mums were there and could see what we're doing. It's good, because they were actually knackered at the end of the day and I said to my mum: 'Ha! Now you know how I feel every day!" In October 1997, the group performed it as the thirteenth song of their first live concert at the Abdi İpekçi Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. The performance was broadcast on Showtime in a pay-per-view event titled Spice Girls In Concert Wild!. However, the VHS and DVD release of the concert, Girl Power! Live in Istanbul, does not include the performance. The song was also used during the climax of their 1997 film, Spice World. In the scene, the group performs "Mama" at London's Royal Albert Hall, surrounded by the media and thousands of fans. The scene was included as a bonus performance in the VHS and DVD release of the movie.

The group have performed the song on their four tours, the Spiceworld Tour, the Christmas In Spiceworld Tour, the Return of the Spice Girls Tour and the Spice World - 2019 Tour. It remained in the group's live set after Halliwell's departure at the end of the European leg of the Spiceworld Tour. The performance at the tour's final concert can be found on the video: Spice Girls Live at Wembley Stadium, filmed in London, on 20 September 1998. During the Return of the Spice Girls tour, "Mama" was performed as the second song from the show's fifth segment. All five girls stood together holding hands to perform it, while the LED screens in the background showed photos of their mothers holding baby pictures of the group, and a montage of them and their children. For the British shows, fifty young girls from the Capital Children's Choir dressed in white came out from a platform and lined the stage against the backdrop screens to sing with the Spice Girls.

Formats and track listings

  • UK, Australian and European CD1; Japanese CD single
  1. "Mama" – 3:40
  2. "Who Do You Think You Are" – 3:44
  3. "Baby Come Round" – 3:22
  4. "Mama" – 5:49
  • German CD
  1. "Mama" – 3:40
  2. "Mama" – 5:03
  3. "Who Do You Think You Are" – 3:44
  • Digital EP
  1. "Mama" – 5:49
  2. "Who Do You Think You Are" – 3:44
  3. "Baby Come Round" – 3:22

Credits and personnel

  • Spice Girls – lyrics, vocals
  • Matt Rowe – lyrics, producer, keyboards and programming
  • Richard Stannard – lyrics, producer, keyboards and programming
  • Dave Way and Absolute – audio mixing
  • Adrian Bushby – recording engineer
  • Patrick McGovern – assistant
  • Greg Lester – rhythm guitar
  • Tony Ward – cello
  • Jackie Drew – violin
  • Mark Beswick – choir arrangement

Published by Windswept Pacific Music Ltd and PolyGram Music Publishing Ltd.

Charts

All entries charted with "Who Do You Think You Are" unless otherwise noted.

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Weekly chart performance for "Mama"

! scope="col"| Chart (1997–2013)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

|3

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|Hungary (Mahasz)

|8

|-

!scope="row"|Ireland (IRMA)

|12

|-

!scope="row"|Italy Airplay (Music & Media)<br />

| 7

|-

! scope="row"| Japan (Japan Hot 100)<br />

| 72

|-

! scope="row"|Latvia (Latvijas Top 20)<br>

|align="center"|1

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

!scope="row"|UK Airplay (Music Week)

|align="center"| 15

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col"| Chart (2021)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

!scope="row"|UK Downloads (OCC)

|31

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Year-end chart performance for "Mama"

! scope="col"| Chart (1997)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

!scope="row"|Australia (ARIA)

|95

|-

!scope="row"|Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)

|21

|-

!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)

|46

|-

!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)

|28

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

|22

|-

!scope="row"|Germany (Media Control)

|46

|-

!scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100)

|30

|-

!scope="row"|New Zealand (RIANZ)

|44

|-

!scope="row"|Sweden (Topplistan)

|33

|-

!scope="row"|Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)

|31

|-

!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)

|15

|}

Certifications

Release history

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+ Release dates and formats for "Mama"

|-

! scope="col"| Region

! scope="col"| Date

! scope="col"| Format(s)

! scope="col"| Label(s)

! scope="col"|

|-

! scope="row"| Germany

| rowspan="2"| 3 March 1997

| Maxi CD

| EMI

|

|-

! scope="row"| United Kingdom

|

| Virgin

|

|-

! scope="row"| Japan

| 16 April 1997

| Maxi CD

| Toshiba EMI

|

|-

! scope="row"| Germany

| 25 April 1997

| Maxi CD

| EMI

|

|}

Notes

References

Bibliography