Mama I'm Coming Home

I grew up a fan of classic and hard rock.  From the first time I heard Ozzy Osbourne I liked his music.  It's easy to dismiss Ozzy because of his oft publicized younger exploits (many of which are more legend than fact) and his self-referral of being the Prince of Darkness.  In reality, Ozzy has been a major part of Rock and Roll for over 50 years, and continues to be relevant today.  The main reason I respect Ozzy is for his gentle sensibilities.  Ozzy is actually a very thoughtful and gentle person at heart.  His songs often denounce war and man's inhumanity to man.  Watching his road trip show with his son Jack makes you quickly realize that he is a humble man who adores his dogs and his family.  The Prince of Darkness is more persona than practice as he reaches 70 years old.

In the spring of 1992 we were anxiously awaiting our Tyler to arrive.  The amount of worrying we did was overwhelming.  As we were reaching the final days and hours of her pregnancy, we began hearing Ozzy's latest release on the radio "Mama, I'm Coming Home".  And when we went to take Tyler home from the hospital, the song was playing again.  All we wanted in the entire world was to take our baby away from the hospital, and to the safety of our home.

"I've seen your face a thousand times
Every day we've been apart
I don't care about the sunshine, yeah
'Cause Mama I'm coming home"

We all interpret songs to our own personal situations and these verses said to us "we don't care about anything else right now...our boy is coming home so we can face things as a family".  It was a powerful window in time that was forever marked by that song.

In 2018 we had the opportunity to see Ozzy in concert for the first time.  At about the mid-point of the show he played "Mama, I'm coming home".  I wrapped my arms around my wife and we stood listening to him perform Tyler's anthem.  It was a touching and surreal moment for me, as I'm sure it was for her.  As with so many things, it allowed Tyler to be right there with us.

Unfortunately it sounds as though Ozzy will be cancelling any hopes of touring in the future due to health problems.  There are times that his posts seem to suggest that he is ready for the final stage of life to begin.  Its just nice knowing that whenever I feel like peeking into that little window of our life in 1992, Ozzy will be there to sing "Mama, I'm Coming Home" for me.

Be well and God bless.    Tom