"Mama's Broken Heart" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place o ...

. It was released on January 14, 2013 as the fourth single from Lambert's album, ''

Four the Record ''Four the Record'' is the fourth studio album by American country music singer and songwriter Miranda Lambert. It was released on November 1, 2011, by RCA Records Nashville. This was her first studio album to be released from that label after a c ...

'' (2011). "Mama's Broken Heart" was written by

Brandy Clark Brandy Lynn Clark (born October 9, 1975) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Her songs have been recorded by Sheryl Crow, Miranda Lambert, the Band Perry, Reba McEntire, LeAnn Rimes, Billy Currington, Darius Rucker, and Kacey Musgrav ...

Shane McAnally Shane McAnally (born October 12, 1974) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. Originally a solo artist for Curb Records in 1999, McAnally charted three singles on Hot Country Songs, including the No. 31 " Are Y ...

and

Kacey Musgraves Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American country singer. She has won six Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and three Academy of Country Music Awards. Musgraves self-released three solo albums and one as Texa ...

, and is about a woman losing control after a break-up and ignoring her mother's advice on dealing with such a situation. The song garnered a positive reception from critics who praised the production and Lambert's delivery of the lyrics. "Mama's Broken Heart" peaked at number 2 on both the ''Billboard''

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

and

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts respectively. It also charted at number 20 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, her fourth top 40 hit on that chart. The song was

certified Platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

and has sold 1,960,000 copies in the United States as of September 2015. It achieved similar chart success in Canada, peaking at number one on the

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

chart and number 30 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

. The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was directed by

Trey Fanjoy Trey Fanjoy is an American music video director. Fanjoy has directed over 150 major label music videos. Her videos have appeared on CMT, VH1, GAC, The Nashville Network, CMT Canada, and MTV. She is the first woman to win the Country Music Asso ...

Content

"Mama's Broken Heart" is a moderate uptempo song in the key of

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

written by

, and

. The song's female narrator acts out as she struggles with a break-up, which leads people to begin taking notice of her behavior ("Word got around to the barflies and the

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

"). When her mother finds out, she responds by scolding her daughter and telling her to regain her composure ("Run and hide your crazy and start actin’ like a lady"). The second verse states that the narrator sacrifices her "spotless reputation" in favor of "revenge," which is in contrast with the way her mother's generation handled such situations ("Where you get a grip and bite your lip just to save a little face"), but ultimately she takes matters into her own hands because " t isn't hermama's broken heart." Lambert, in an interview with Taste of Country, said that "Mama's Broken Heart" was the one song on ''Four the Record'' she couldn't live without, and that she can relate to the character in the song: "I think we all have at some point or another. Mostly when we’re young. Especially crazy teenage love — you think the world is ending if you break up." She expressed that when she first heard it, "she knew it was special" and wished she would've been the one to write it.

Critical reception

The song received favorable reviews from critics. Ben Foster of Country Universe praised the track, referring favorably to its "deceptively deep" lyrics, Lambert's delivery, and an "engaging ndoff-beat arrangement." Foster rated the song an A, and dubbed it Lambert's best single since 2010's "

The House That Built Me "The House That Built Me" is a song written by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin, and recorded by American country music artist Miranda Lambert. Blake Shelton was originally set to record the song, but when Lambert heard it, she emotionally reacted ...

." Taste of Country's Billy Dukes awarded the song 4 and 1/2 stars out of 5, comparing it favorably to Lambert's previous hits "

Kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

" and "

Gunpowder & Lead "Gunpowder & Lead" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Miranda Lambert. It was released in January 2008 as the third single from her album ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend''. The album's third single, it became Lambert's first ...

" and favorably commenting on the sparse yet suspenseful nature of the production.

Commercial performance

"Mama's Broken Heart" debuted at number 54 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

chart for the week ending January 5, 2013, and debuted at number 46 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

chart for the week ending January 12, 2013. It also debuted at number 89 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

chart for the week of February 9, 2013, and at number 76 on the

chart for the week of February 9, 2013. The song became Lambert's highest-peaking single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number 20 until 2014's "

Somethin' Bad "Somethin' Bad" is a song recorded as a duet by American country music artists Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood. The song was written by Chris DeStefano, Brett James and Priscilla Renea. It was released as the second single from Lambert's fif ...

" made it her second highest-peaking single on that chart. The song has sold 1,960,000 copies in the US as of September 2015.

Music video

The music video was directed by

and premiered in March 2013.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2011 songs 2013 singles Miranda Lambert songs RCA Records Nashville singles Music videos directed by Trey Fanjoy Song recordings produced by Frank Liddell Songs written by Brandy Clark Songs written by Shane McAnally Songs written by Kacey Musgraves Songs about heartache