'Momma Loves Me' by NEEDTOBREATHE (feat. The Red Clay Strays) – Lyrics & Meaning

NEEDTOBREATHE and The Red Clay Strays. It's a collaboration likely none of us saw coming but one that seems to make perfect sense all the same.

The two powerhouse country-rock acts have joined forces for the release of 'Momma Loves Me'. Written solely by NEEDTOBREATHE frontman Bear Rinehart, the spiritual number wouldn't be complete without the gospel-flecked stylings of their Alabama-forged contemporaries.

With NEEDTOBREATHE's effortless lyricism and The Red Clay Strays' unquenchable power, 'Momma Loves Me' will make you want more from this unlikely – and yet unparalleled – pairing.

While carried on the pattering of soft strings, 'Momma Loves Me' is all-powerful in its simplicity. There are little more than nimble plucks, a distant beat and resonant keys throughout the composition, but there is great strength and intensity in all that the song holds back.

Gorgeous harmonies and striking lead vocals are allowed to take center stage, and with potent words that need little accompaniment, the tune's unadorned arrangement is a perfect one.

"You might say grace is all I’ve known
But I’ve felt pain and its long shadow follow me down every road
The truth ain’t lost, on this lost soul
I still try to make amends but I ain’t holding out much hope"

'Momma Loves Me' is a song about living with our rights and our wrongs and accepting the goodwill that is granted to us – from our loved ones or some Higher Power – often without merit.

It seems like the singer has been gifted plenty of these courtesies in this life, saved only by the mercy of some yet to be revealed being. A mother? A Deity? Both?

Despite these graces, his pains, shortcomings and wrong-doings are never lost on him. In fact, he spends much of his life tallying his sins and attempting to make amends.

He has fallen short (as we all do) time and time again – as he sings, "I ain’t scared of where I’m going, I ain’t proud of where I’ve been" – but he holds onto two truths the keep him afloat when life grows turbulent and the waves of his failures threaten to crest: "Momma loves me, I’m still born again."

"So wrap me up in sweet forgiveness,
Take my wrongs and make them white
Take my scars and take my troubles,
Spread my ashes in the wind
Cause Momma loves me, I’m still born again"

'Momma Loves Me' is a song of surrendering and forgiving oneself. We've all done wrong, we've all come up short, but to cling to our faults and our failures is the biggest misstep of them all.

As the song goes: "We all get hurt, and we all bleed / But the time has come to reckon with the wounds that buried me / When my best days are not enough / I remember all the times you loved me just the way I was".

At the end of the day, someone loves you – a parent, a friend, a God – no matter what you've done or where you've been.

You might say grace is all I’ve known
But I’ve felt pain and its long shadow follow me down every road
The truth ain’t lost, on this lost soul
I still try to make amends but I ain’t holding out much hope

Seems like every morning starts with me just counting up my sins
I’ve got friends that I should call but I don’t make the time for them
I ain’t scared of where I’m going, I ain’t proud of where I’ve been
Momma loves me, I’m still born again

So wrap me up in sweet forgiveness,
Take my wrongs and make them white
Take my scars and take my troubles,
Spread my ashes in the wind
Cause Momma loves me, I’m still born again

We all get hurt, and we all bleed
But the time has come to reckon with the wounds that buried me
When my best days are not enough
I remember all the times you loved me just the way I was

Seems like every morning starts with me just counting up my sins
I’ve got friends that I should call but I don’t make the time for them
I ain’t sure of where I’m going, I ain’t proud of where I’ve been
Momma loves me, I’m still born again

So wrap me up in sweet forgiveness
Take my wrongs (take my wrongs) and make them white
Take my scars and take my troubles
Spread my ashes in the wind
Momma loves me, I’m still born again

(Yeah)

So wrap me up in sweet forgiveness
Take my wrongs and make them white
Take my scars and take my troubles
Spread my ashes in the wind
Momma loves me, I’m still born again
Momma loves me, I’m still born again

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For more on The Red Clay Strays, see below: