5. Heptones, “Mama Say”
This tune from the Heptones’ classic 1976 LP, Night Food, details the certain type of bond formed between mother and son in poverty and without the presence of a father. “Mama say, I ain’t got no food today/ Tit for tat, butter for fish/ Here’s a little porridge in the dish/ Mama say, you can’t leave the house today/There’s a hole in the roof, you’ve got to make it waterproof.”