If you think Mother’s Day songs are only for the traditional, mom-and-apple pie kind of family, think again! According to a review of Mother’s Day songs done by GreenBookofSongs.com® for Katherine Lewis’ Working Moms Blog (WorkingMoms.About.com), there’s a selection of positive, loving songs for the mom in every kind of family.

Single moms are getting their due in songs like Fantasia’s “Baby Mama” and Clint Black’s “The Strong One”, which salute young mothers taking care of their children on their own. Songs like 2Pac’s “Dear Mama” and Jay-Z’s “Anything” express gratitude for moms who brought their sons through poverty and the challenges of the inner city, while O.C. Smith’s “Son Of Hickory Holler’s Tramp” - well, the title says it all.

These days, there’s financial stress in the suburbs too. Some dads are out of work and caring for the kids, while Mom is on the job. That’s the scenario of Lonestar’s “Mr. Mom”, who learns first-hand about the hard work stay-at-home moms do every day.

For adoptive moms (and dads too), there’s “I Am Your Mother Too”, by Keb’ Mo’ with Brenda Russell. For birth mothers who choose adoption, there’s Michelle Wright’s “He Would Be Sixteen”, in which a birth mom does what’s best for her baby, but never forgets him. And here’s one in praise of the step-mom: Sufjan Stevens’ self-explanatory “Decator, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Step Mother!”

There’s even a song for families dealing with illness. Craig Morgan’s “Tough” is an ode to a mother with cancer who continues to care for her husband and kids.

So whatever style of family you have, whatever role your mother fills, there’s a way to say thanks with a song. There’s no excuse not to follow Al Jolson’s timeless advice and “Remember Mother’s Day”!

Here’s the Top 10:

• Anything Jay-Z
• Baby Mama Fantasia
• Dear Mama 2Pac
• Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Step Mother! Sufjan Stevens
• He Would Be Sixteen Michelle Wright
• I Am Your Mother Too Keb’ Mo’ with Brenda Russell
• Mr. Mom Lonestar
• Son Of Hickory Holler’s Tramp O.C. Smith
• Strong One, The Clint Black
• Tough Craig Morgan

We selected a sample from our Pirates category to see how closely the traditional image of pirates matches the modern reality.

• Captain Hook’s Waltz Original Cast/Peter Pan
• Captain Kidd Carl Peterson
• Coasts Of High Barbary David Coffin
• Dead Man’s Chest Pirates Of New Providence
• Jolly Roger Roger McGuinn
• Rollicking Band Of Pirates We Broadway Cast/Pirates of Penzance

Captain Hook is comical, the friendly pirates of Penzance are sympathic, and most of us have sung the refrain from “Dead Man’s Chest”, “Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!” But listen to the lyrics of “Dead Man’s Chest”, and you’ll hear about pirates’ axes, knives and bloody victims. “Captain Kidd” knows he’s damned to hell, and “Jolly Roger” features an unrepentant buccaneer greedy for gold. Romanticized, perhaps, but they’re an unsavory bunch of cutthroats.

Still, I haven’t come across any songs about Somali fishermen who turn to pirating vast container ships. I’ll be interested to see how modern songwriters portray of pirates in the 21st century.

Because April is Alcohol Awareness Month, we pulled some songs about recovery from our category Addiction: Recovery.

• Accidents Can Happen Sixx A.M.
• Cry Cry (Till The Sun Shines) Martina McBride
• God Of Wine Third Eye Blind
• Little Rock Collin Raye
• Sober Pink
• That’s Why I’m Here Kenny Chesney
• Welcome Back Mase
• Wine Into Water T. Graham Brown

Just as Country music is famous for its songs about drinking, bars and honky-tonks, the genre is not afraid to tackle the subject of recovery head-on. In fact, while Rock, Hip Hop and Alternative are represented in the sample list above, Country music predominates with over half of the 47 songs in our full Addictions: Recovery category. Rock and Alternative edge out Country in the companion category Addictions: General.

The Green Book deals with substance use in other categories as well — Alcohol, Drugs: Cocaine, Drugs: General and Drugs: Marijuana. These include both songs that glorify drinking and drugs and those with anti-drug messages. The two Addiction categories are reserved for songs that specifically address addictive behavior.

We also track particular brands of alcohol in Products & Brands: Specific. Coincidentally, in our study of the top subjects in popular music for 2008, the most frequently mentioned product was Patron tequila, a favorite in Hip Hop songs.