Song for Mama (献给阿妈的歌) (lyrics & melody by unknown, arr. by D. Liang & A. Washburn)

Performed by Chen Honglin (陈红林)
Spoken words by his mother (李文秋)

Traditionally a Tibetan song (rewritten in modern times in Mandarin), this song is typically sung by a child who misses his mother. Chen Honglin’s performance of this song was so touching that it inspired us to seek out his parents and all the other students' parents back in Wenchuan County.

We arrived at their home on top of a mountain in Wenchuan on March 18. We saw that his parents were building their new home from the rubble of the old one and decided to incorporate these reconstruction sounds into the drumbeat. Honglin’s mom weeped when we played her the a cappella recording of her son singing. Honglin and his parents have been separated since last August when his school was relocated out of the earthquake zone. They don’t know when they will see each other again. The voice in the song is his mother saying, “Honglin, study hard so that you can keep on singing. Your mom and dad will always support you”, and at the end, “Mama will always support you.”

Song for Mama Field Recording (click to view)