Greg Osei

“big mama” is a song on my new album that’s very close to my heart. It’s inspired by my experience at the funeral of a matriarch I loved who’d passed away. It feels fitting to think about what this song means to me on Mother’s Day.

I’d never gone to the wake of a person I’d actually known in life before and had no idea what to expect. When I looked at her body, it was like I was looking at a completely different person. And yet, as we began to celebrate her life and remember who she was in our lives, I felt her presence so strongly that I was brought to tears. She was everywhere. Though I’d always believed in the existence of the soul, that experience proved it to me.

I could feel Big Mama’s presence as I wrote and sang this song. And I still feel her presence when I listen.

I included the spiritual “Walk With Me, Lord” in my celebration of Big Mama’s life not only because it was her favorite song and I sang it at her funeral but also because my experience with her showed me that she and all of my ancestors walk with me 🖤

That experience taught me that the words of another song on my album, “love alive” really are true: “the love lives on…when the body’s gone.”

Listen to “big mama” on my new album “love alive” on all platforms (l1nk in b1o)