Mama (Spice Girls Song) - Writing and Inspiration

Writing and Inspiration

"Mama" was written by the Spice Girls with songwriting partners Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard. In an interview about the writing process between the group and the duo, Rowe credits Melanie Brown as the one who came up with the song's concept. During the writing process, each member wrote a small verse in a different corner of the recording studio, while the chorus was finished around the piano with a guitar. Then, the producers added a gospel choir filled with the group's harmonies at the end of the song. Brown explained the song's inspiration on the book Real Life: Real Spice The Official Story:

We wrote 'Mama' when I was going through a bad phase with my mum. The sentiments are really that your mum's probably the best friend that you've got. Whether she's an over-protective mother or a bit of a landmine, she probably knows you better than yourself in some ways.

In the same book, Melanie Chisholm further elaborated: "'Mama's all about how you're such a cow to your mum when you're going through that rebellious teenage stage. Then when you get a bit older, you realise that whatever she was doing, she was only doing it for your own good. And you think: 'God, I was really horrible.'" "Mama" was released in the UK and Ireland as a double A-side along with "Who Do You Think You Are" in March 1997, timed not only for the Comic Relief telethon, but also for Mothering Sunday.