Mama Said

"**Mama Said**" is a song from Alice Healy's perspective about her mother Frances Healy. It was written in 2007, and released on Seanan's 2011 album *Wicked Girls*. It can be listened to here.

## Lyrics

Source: http://seananmcguire.com/songbook.php?id=204

Mama rode the rodeo, and they say she was the best;

She was the flower of Arizona

And the star of New Mexico.

They say she never missed a shot, the darling of the west,

But my mama’s gone like the prairie dawn

And the Lord of the Buffalo.

Mama put her six-guns down and she traveled to the east,

To the great green woods and the fenced-in sky,

And the unfamiliar snow.

She shook the prairie off her boots and she settled to the feast,

Where winter crashes down upon this quiet town,

And the ghosts ain't lettin' go.

 And she said, "Don't be chosen, make the choice to choose.

 Though the world seems frozen, forcing you to lose.

 You only get one shot to shoot at fate,

 So better take your time before it’s too late.

 When they try to force your hand, you just refuse."

 She said, "Don’t be chosen, make the choice to choose."

Mama never understood the dangers of the hills,

She was strange and wild, the desert’s child

Lost in a land she didn't know.

One day the forest claimed its own; I'm dreaming of her still,

Of the way she rode and the debts that she owed

To the Lord of the Buffalo.

Mama was a shooting star, she never could have stayed,

She could no more change her nature than

The rising sun could dim its glow.

Don't blame her for the way she went; I never was betrayed,

And I know that she will come and gather me

When it's time for me to go.

 And she'll say, "Don't be chosen, make the choice to choose.

 Though the world seems frozen, forcing you to lose.

 You only get one shot to shoot at fate,

 So better take your time before it’s too late.

 When they try to force your hand, baby, just refuse."

 She said, "Don’t be chosen, make the choice to choose."

Mama had a clever heart, and she chose her family well;

Though our roots are thin and shallow,

We always find a way to grow.

So when we're scattered to the wind, we never say farewell.

Though we roam for now, we'll come on home somehow

To the Lord of the Buffalo.

Though we never stay, we'll meet again someday,

With the Lord of the Buffalo.

## Analysis

Frances Healy died when her daughter Alice was six years old. Most of the song's lyrics are Alice recounting other people's stories about Fran.

* "She was the flower of Arizona / And the star of New Mexico."
	+ Fran was a circus rodeo rider; these were her nicknames, and the area she performed in.
* "They say she never missed a shot"
	+ Fran is legendary within the family for her gun and knife skills.
* "But my mama’s gone like the prairie dawn"
	+ Fran dies when Alice is six.
* "Mama put her six-guns down and she traveled to the east"
	+ After meeting Jonathan Healy, Fran follows him home to Buckley Township, Michigan.
* To the great green woods and the fenced-in sky / ... Where winter crashes down upon this quiet town"
	+ Buckley is a rural farming town that borders a locally-infamous forest. She has moved from the sunny southwest to snowy northern Michigan.
* "And the ghosts ain't letting go."
	+ Buckley is the home of ghosts Rose Marshall and Mary Dunlavy, among others.
* "She was strange and wild, the desert’s child"
	+ Fran's ancestry is particularly unique.
* "One day the forest claimed its own"
	+ On the day of her death, Fran walked into the Buckley woods and never walked out. Her body was found on its edge, and canon implies the forest loved her despite causing her death. Alice, too, is called a daughter of the forest, and her father fears that it will take her someday as well.
* "And I know that she will come and gather me / When it's time for me to go."
	+ Alice is well aware that people remain as ghosts after their death, although Fran has already gone to the afterlife.
* "She chose her family well; / Though our roots are thin and shallow, / We always find a way to grow. /So when we're scattered to the wind, we never say farewell."
	+ The Price-Healy Family started their tenure in the United States as two exiles and an infant. They have grown and spread to all corners of the country and picked up a number of adopted and honorary family members along the way.
* "Though we roam for now, we'll come on home somehow / To the Lord of the Buffalo."
	+ Possibly referring to Alice's descendants, currently spread across the country and largely unaware of their unique heritage.

## References

1. ↑ Broken Paper Hearts
2. ↑ The Flower of Arizona, One Hell of a Ride
3. ↑ The Star of New Mexico