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From: jameycruz2
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  • On this date in 1969 {Jan. 25th} 'I'm Livin' In Shame' entered the Billboard's Top 100 chart, eventually it peaked at No. 10 and spent a total of 8 weeks in the Top 100. During their career The Supremes had two records that just made it into the Top 10, the other being 'Up The Latter To The Roof'. They also had 12 records that reached #1...

  • I remember this song. Thanks.

  • this song reminds me of my gran ,its been 30 years since she passed away and I miss her still :)

  • love this x x

  • Odd carolinaguy, This song hit Number 10 on Billboard, the Same Position as Up The Ladder to The Roof, You seem to Shoot a Wad eveytime you hear that one, You have a Hate On for Diana Ross, Grow a Pair & just Admit it

  • This song is a wonderful tribute to every hard working woman in the world .Trying to her best with love pride and dignity.

    To dcsellar although I do not know you I am so sorry for your trouble .

    I am sure that your mom is with Jesus now . From Denis in the U K

  • This sounds like a 7th grade student from some school of the arts wrote this. This has to be one of the worst songs released under the Supremes name. If it wasn't for "Love Child", and the work with the Temptations that had the Supremes propped up, way up, in popularity, this song would have been laugh-out-lound funny and seen as ridiculous.

  • My mom used to play this song a lot.. very difficult to listen to now... she committed suicide, and our lives were great, so I thought.

  • Some people liked Elvis. I liked THIS!!!!

  • MIGHTY MOTOWN..AS GOOD TODAY AS ITS EVER BEEN X

  • I love this song

    Bless all the good Mothers out there.

  • September a rough month for me....Music good for soul.......Thanks Diana.

  • ooh diana and the supremes, the first days, beautiful of truthful songs and all involved like the words and all behind the scenes. diana always recognized and i wish the world would know "they" did their best gordy,diana, motown, and it is life.................bless them

  • Absolutely brilliant song, I was 8 years old when this came out, I loved it then & do now, especially after losing my mum 3 years ago, I now realise how important mum's are as she held our family together & was always there for us, never a thought for herself, she was happy as long as we were all ok.

  • this song makes me cry

  • I dedicate this song to my nana who raised me

  • @bigbear39ca Oh and sorry, yes - they were on the Motown label (Tamla Motown in UK). I love Taylor's songs.

  • @bigbear39ca Yep, he did - and Gotta See Jane, There's A Ghost In My House. Very good tracks too. He also co-wrote Love Child that the Supremes also recorded.

  • @best1forward The person who wrote this was R. Dean Taylor, who is a white Canadian male, so your comments make no sense whatsoever. He could be writing about himself for all we know, and the sexes were maybe altered in the song so that Diana could sing it.

  • @FaerieCrone Nice sensible comment ; the sentiments in the song transcend race and are more about class , or perceived class maybe. I was only 13 at the time but wasn't this a so-called "answer" record to their own hit "Love Child" - which seemed to cause some mild controversy over here in the UK [ although another brilliant song of course ].Would be fascinated to hear a contemperaneous american view on the two songs [ bet i spelt that wrong !! ] Cheers.

  • @nigelloflaveo Yes I often thought that Taylor wrote this as a kind of 'follow on' to Love Child (which he also co-wrote). I think if you listen to both back to back, it's almost like a story, really. Love Child depicts a relationship and wanting to break the poverty chain, so to speak - and this one depicting the regret of leaving it all behind completely and forgetting about the poor ol' Mum. I think that they are both songs about shame but this one reflecting the grown up in later years.

  • @FaerieCrone you right. "I'm Livin' in Shame" is a sequel to the Supremes' number-one hit single, "Love Child." The song explores the quest of the 'love child' to shun both her impoverished childhood and her mother, and pass herself off to her friends and new husband as the daughter of a rich family. The woman's mother ends up dying without ever seeing her daughter as an adult, or ever meeting her two-year-old grandson, to the child's regret and chagrin.

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  • this is a mixed bag- the production is excellent. Some of the lyrics are pretty powerful ("I was always so afraid that my uptown friends would see her, afraid one day, when i was grown, that I would BE her"), but then you have some really inane lines. Death really came and claimed mama while she was making HOMEMADE JAM??? And girl, you were "livin' high"- couldn't you've at least bought the poor woman a fork and a dinner plate so she wouldnt be eating out of the pot? Regardless, i still love it.

  • @mnmcv1 but the best part about this song is diana's great soprano and the background vocals are to die for...especially at the end when they shout mamaa, mama! i love this song.

  • I love this song. It always makes me cry. Thinkin about my mom, and hopes she knows just how much I love her. Although we had a rough relationship thru the years. Nothing abusive, just couldnt get along too well..lot of arguing etc. I still choose her for my mother!!! Very thankful she is still here with us. Dads been gone almsot 10 yrs. Don't know how Id manage with her gone too.

  • Listening to the greats like this makes me weep for the obscenity-laden, grunting, inarticulate noise that much black music has become. What happened to dignity? Style? Musicianship?

  • A lovely , poingant song , i think it was the Supremes finest moment. They sure don't write lyrics like that anymore. Happily , i doubt whether that pair of glorified karaoke singers Mariah & Whitney would cover such a fine song ; they'd absolutely murder it.

  • Great to hear this one, and yes oldies radio is still stuck on the same songs, over and over. Let me at the controls man.

  • No one can love you as much except "Jesus"

  • one of my favs..makes me cry....mama i love you

  • 1969 not 68

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  • Make u want to go hug your mom .I wish i had my mom to hug.

  • This reminds me of the movie "Imitation of Life." Also there is another movie called "Pinky." You never miss your roots until it has been uprooted. So sad when people feel that they need to lie about their heritage. (the world we live in, I guess)

  • love this song sence i was a kid means alot ,, always loved my mom no matter what !!!!! lost her when i was 15 yrs old , you never know how long we have with each other , moms take more blame for doing what they think is right at the time , love you moms while there here and dont leyt any other come between you and her ,and dont judge to harsh ,,

  • @SuperMariajones that's sad. It's a day I fear with all my soul. Mums 67 I'm 42, can be anytime in the next 10 - 20 years, and i remember 20 years ago as if it was last year..

  • @zaftra Hi, don't fear that day sweetheart! You and your Mum are the same ages as me and my son. Stay close to Mum and remember every moment you spend with her - every moments a magic moment! I try and do as much as I can with my son, when we are together, so that he has happy memories to last his whole life. On a happy note, heard this song tonight, was wearing the overalls, old hat, wellies and mucking out pigs. This evening have chickens to pluck and jam to make LOL! Be happy! Love BB x

  • @buntybunny That's very sweet. Thank you.

  • i was raised on these songs my mother loved motown artists she was a white lady from liverpool and i miss here like hell

    great tune

  • This is a song about anyone who forgot there roots and lived to regret it. Theres nothing racist about the imigary - werent those women someones mother?- and to many of those white kids the servants were the best mother figure they could hope for. I was looked after by mums jamacian neighbour whilst she worked, there are loads of "stereotype" photos of me and her in my home (and in her home) so if its racist to have comforting memmories then i suppose i am

  • This song has a nice beat, but the lyrics are pretty depressing.

  • it only pre-dates IMITATION OF LIFE by about 35 years!!!!!

  • Did someone write total rip off from IMITATION OF LIFE? Know your music history, man!

  • this is a good tune. for those who don't like ? Get a life, some people live poor life;s maybe it reminds them of what they didn't have growing up but never ashame, just LOVED

  • This song is a mess--horrible story line, that he-haw guitar at the beginning, and the total rip off from parts of "Imitation of life". But it is good for a chuckle every now and then.

  • Sarah Jane crying on Annie's casket, I tell you that scene gives me chills. Wonderful movie. You only have 1 mama not matter what. Powerful song. Nice post TY

  • It all depends upon your own interpretation of this. I hate pity and I don't usually spill emotionally- especially to strangers. The comment I wrote below was exactly what this made me feel. If you were to go through every song ever written you could find something to critisize. Why not just listen to what moves and grooves you instead of being being negative and just for the record my Mother always m,ade home made rhubarb and strawberry jam cuz we loved it so yes it does happen. Peace ALL

  • I love this even though it makes my heart bleed. My Mom took her own life on Oct.8.1976 while I , a 15 year old lesbian with Moms support/ I never knew she would die or I would've kicked the door down. I waited 25 minutes and no answer- she was dead. I called Dad who came home and let out the most painful scream I have ever heard and then we did it together. Gawd I miss them. Dad died too early too. Love your Folks people cause you never know.

  • @BroncoDeeBuster When people say it cuts like a knife parts of me wants to scream. Nice to see you made it to tell the story.

  • wow

  • It's a song,,,,,quit reading into it.

  • Came a telegram. Mama passed away while makin' homemade jam. Classic.

  • Thank you so much for posting my favourite Supremes track,a bit in the mould of Love Child. Nice montage.

  • A lushly orchestrated confession of guilt by a social climbing girl who tries to hide her family background. Diana Ross hardly mimics the "tragic mulatto" in "Imitation of Life" in this gutsy 3-minute pop opera. Bold but trite lyrics (like “momma died while making homemade jam”) surf sweeping waves of shifting rhythms marking a radical departure from the typical “the boy done me wrong” Supreme theme. Even the Mary and Cindy’s trademark “oohs” and “ahs” took a break. Where were they by the way?

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  • What a beautiful song! I love The Supremes...

  • I hope my mama's not home making homemade jam...

  • Love this song...... Love Diana Ross and The Suoremes.......

  • Sad Song!!!!!

  • deep.how could anybody do their mother like this??

  • always thank god for your mother because when she is gone it will be too late to say mama i love you. a lot of our parents did the very best they could in our up bringing. it is a message in this beautiful song please everyone take heed.

  • awesme tune

  • this song is such a beautiful tribute to all mothers. diana's delivery is so moving here. at first i thought that the uptempo beat of this tune distracted the beautiful lyrics. but now i realize that it could have served as a way of reaching out to the young folks of the day on their relations w/ their mothers.

  • Its ok girls, you can get divorced!

  • Thanks for re-posting it!

    This is a great slide and a moving song.

  • if your friends care, they're not worth it

  • This song had to have been inspired by the Lana Turner starring film "Imitation of Life." Which, by the way, was a pretty good flick.

    Anyway, I could listen to that beat behind the final break of DRATS singing "mama, mama, mama can you hear me..." over and over again. It's a body shaker for such a sad themed song. I hope one of the music wizards mixes this one up!

  • @sjamotown I agree. diana sounds great on this song but the backing vocals are brilliant. when i was a kid i played this song over and over just to hear the portion of the song you refer to. i don't really care what the lyrics say...it's just a great tune with terrific vocals.

  • @best1forward don't dare try to work out why the lyrics were written or what they mean or who they were written for.

  • I mean, really, can you imagine getting a telegram that actually says: Your mama passed away while making homemade jam"? It's an embarrassingly bad lyric. It's always elicited laughter and derision.

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  • @SisterSoulLA @DerrickSanchez: I agree. The writers were desperate to make words rhyme.

  • Came the telegram, Mama passed away while making homemade jam....one of the funniest lyrics of all time.

  • No, it's just a bad lyric.

  • @PhilLatio99 Indeed. Not the best "poetic" words.

  • Good grief. How incredibly racist you sound.

  • He sounds like Harry Reid. Or Chris Matthews. Some white people just don't know how racist they sound. And they find those old stereotypes so comforting.

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  • @best1forward; - what are you talking about? I never said anything about Motown not making or releasing this song. My comments were about the myopic racial stereotype prism through which you seem to view the song and your projections..

  • Man, you see stereotypes that aren't even thre.....Cicely Tyson in "Sounder"????? lol  You need to re-think this one.

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  • @MandingoTyrone its a retorical question.

  • @best1fowrard - What's a rhetorical question? Dude, what are you rambling on about? You got caught showing your deeply ingrained prejudices and stereotypes, and now you're spinning like crazy. Learn from it and move on. You're just digging yourself into a deeper hole.

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  • @best1forward and now i move on.

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  • "Shame" was released in 1969. It went to No. 10 on Billboard Pop after release that year in January. One of my favorite DRATS records--love its sound on the great-mastered Ultimate Collection CD pictured here.

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