The band began in Vancouver in January 2005, when guitarist and vocalist Ryan Guldemond was at music school and wanted to start a band based around vocal-driven pop songs. He recruited his sister Molly along with a friend from college, Debra-Jean Creelman, to accompany his own vocals for the songs he had written, and the trio played as an acoustic act before adding drummer Kenton Loewen and bassist Jeremy Page.
The five members started off playing under the name Mother, and in the fall of 2005, they independently released a self-titled album. This debut album was recorded with Howard Redekopp, who had also worked with The New Pornographers and Tegan and Sara. When the Vancouver Province rated Mother as one of the top five BC bands to watch for in 2007, they began to receive acclaim for their debut album. Shortly thereafter, Mother landed a nationally broadcasted concert opening for K'naan and The Wailin' Jennys. In the summer of 2006, they opened for the Australian band, The Cat Empire, at the sold-out Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Later that year, they made their debut in central Canada at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on June 29 as well as in Toronto on July 1, Canada Day, at the Harbourfront Centre.
In October 2006, after playing a set at the Pop Montreal festival, Mother met with Last Gang Records and later signed a four-album contract. At that point the label encouraged the band to change their name to avoid legal issues, so rather than changing it completely they decided to simply rename themselves Mother Mother. On February 20, 2007, the band re-released its debut album under the new name, renaming the album Touch Up and including two new songs, as well as artwork and overdubs different from the original.
The band released their second album, O My Heart, in 2008. In December 3, it was announced that Debra-Jean Creelman had left Mother Mother, with the addition of a new singer/keyboardist, Jasmin Parkin, announced in January 2009.
Mother Mother's third album, Eureka, was released on March 15, 2011. The album's lead single, "The Stand," entered the Canada Singles Top 100 chart in May 2011 and peaked during that week at position 76. The album prompted a reviewer at the Toronto Star to describe the band as "evolving into orchestral harmonies and hip hop-influenced power ballads, as if Adam Lambert had joined The Dirty Projectors." On January 9, 2012, Kraft Foods launched a series of television commercials featuring the song "Bright Idea."
Mother Mother's fourth album, The Sticks, was released on September 18, 2012. It contains 14 tracks and was co-produced by band frontman Ryan Guldemond and producer Ben Kaplan. The first single, "Let's Fall in Love", was released on July 17, and the second single, "Bit By Bit" in December.
In 2014 the band signed with Universal Music Canada to produce their fifth album, Very Good Bad Thing, which was released on November 4, 2014. The first single from the album, "Get Out The Way" was released on July 15, 2014.
Mother Mother has since produced two more albums under Universal Music Canada. In February 2017 "No Culture" was released, with the first single "The Drugs" released November 4, 2016, and the second single "Love Stuck" released November 29.
In November 2018, "Dance and Cry" was released, the only single "Get Up" released on September 14.
Little Hands
Mother Mother Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Put out by the rain
Water down the drain
Little face, little feet
Little hands in my mind
Where I'm crying all the time
Where I'm crying all the time (crying all the time)
Little face, little feet
Little hands in my brain
Driving me insane
Driving me insane
Little face, little feet
Little hands not around
No more little sounds
No more little sound
My baby's gone like a flame
Put out by the rain
Water down the drain
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah
The lyrics of Little Hands by Mother Mother convey the grief and sadness of a mother who has lost her child. The repeated phrase "little face, little feet, little hands" emphasizes the smallness and preciousness of the child, and serves as a reminder of the enormity of the loss. The image of the flame that has been put out by the rain and the water going down the drain is a metaphor for the sudden and irreversible disappearance of the child. The mother's mind and brain are consumed by thoughts of her child, who she misses dearly and whose absence is driving her insane.
The repetition of the phrase "where I'm crying all the time" adds weight to the already heavy emotions expressed in the song. The mother is consumed by her grief and is unable to find any relief. The absence of the little sounds that the child made adds to the feeling of emptiness and loss that the mother is experiencing. The final repetition of the phrase "my baby's gone like a flame, put out by the rain, water down the drain" serves as a poignant and heartbreaking conclusion to the song.
Line by Line Meaning
My baby's gone like a flame
My child left me as quickly as a fire is extinguished
Put out by the rain
My child's light was taken away by the hardships of life
Water down the drain
Like water, my child's presence disappeared in a blink of an eye
Little face, little feet
The image of my child's tiny features is burned in my memory
Little hands in my mind
I can't escape the mental image of my child's small hands
Where I'm crying all the time
I am constantly weeping over my child's absence
Little face, little feet
The memory of my child's physical characteristics continues to haunt me
Little hands in my brain
My thoughts are fixated on the image of my child's hands
Driving me insane
The constant thoughts of my child are causing me to lose my mind
Little face, little feet
The memory of my child's physical characteristics continues to torture me
Little hands not around
I long for the touch of my child's hands, that are no longer present
No more little sounds
The absence of my child's voice is deafening
My baby's gone like a flame
My child left me unexpectedly, like a flame that was extinguished
Put out by the rain
My child's light was taken away by unexpected circumstances
Water down the drain
My child's presence vanished quickly, without warning
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Instrumental
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah
Instrumental
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Instrumental
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah
Instrumental
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Instrumental
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah
Instrumental
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
Instrumental
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah
Instrumental
Lyrics © OLE MEDIA MANAGEMENT LP
Written by: Ryan Guldemond
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@midorisubs5106
My baby's gone like a flame
Put out by the rain
Water down the drain
Little face, little feet, little hands in my mind
Where I'm crying all the time
Where I'm crying all the time
Little face, little feet, little hands in my brain
Driving me insane
Driving me insane
Little face, little feet, little hands not around
No more little sounds
No more little sound
My baby's gone like a flame
Put out by the rain
Water down the drain
@tsukishimakeianypronouns8054
Lyrics:
My baby's gone like a flame
Put out by the rain
Water down the drain
Little face, little feet
Little hands in my mind
Where I'm crying all the time
Where I'm crying all the time
Little face, little feet
Little hands in my brain
Driving me insane
Driving me insane
Little face, little feet
Little hands not around
No more little sounds
No more little sound
My baby's gone like a flame
Put out by the rain
Water down the drain
@user-vh5pr8lo1x
i think it's a lot more likely that this song is about the death of a toddler than a miscarriage? the "no more little sounds" line pretty heavily implies silence in the child's absence and you can faintly hear young children fighting and yelling at each other in the background during some parts
fetuses aren't usually that loud..
@JS-pq2tc
No more little sounds could be the heartbeat
@daphneduck3294
Love your profile pick msi is my lifeeeee
@epochii2756
@@JS-pq2tc then what of the children squabbling in the background?
@Morristown337
If the Presidents of the USA took their music seriously it may sound like this.
@mehp_
@@epochii2756 I'm Pretty sure that the kids represent the life that they could have had, looking everywhere and seeing these happy and growing kids, and the resentment the pare ts feel because they cant have the same
@irisw7484
i personally think this song is about losing a young child as opposed to a miscarriage. because the lyric is "no MORE little sounds" implying that the sounds (presence of the child) were there before the kids passing
@nuggetboi6318
I think the song means a multitude of things. Two of the most prominent being either a miscarriage or losing a small child. I agree with the logic behind your interpretation, but it could also mean that when you're expecting a child sometimes you imagine that baby as a child in your hands or running around in anticipation for the future. Once you lose that baby to a miscarriage then you're left with nothing left to imagine, the dream is gone and all the little sounds are no more.
@tommycoolatta420
This song was kind of hard to listen to. Not because it isn't good, just like all songs by this wonderful band, it was amazing. But also heartbreaking, and it seemed to have a ghostly atmosphere.
@woof009
i saw you in the comment section of two trucks what the fuck are you doing here