“Mother Tongue” by Bring Me the Horizon Lyrics Meaning
“Mother Tongue” is a love song sung by Oliver Sykes, lead singer of Bring Me the Horizon, to his wife, Alissa Salls. Alissa is Brazilian, so during parts of the chorus, he addresses her in Portuguese – her mother tongue. But this is just a surface understanding of the song.
Encounter with Alissa Salls
Throughout this track, Sykes relays a sentiment of his meeting with Salls being ordained by the universe. In fact, before their initial encounter, he never believed in philosophies such as fate. But so much strong emotional energy was exchanged upon their union that he has no choice but to conclude that the heavens ordained it.
Sykes also brings up the issue of past, unsuccessful romances. He acknowledges that the potential still exists for something to go wrong. However, those disappointments were just preparing them for this current moment, to have a lasting relationship with his wife.
Love not centered on words
Despite acknowledging Salls in her mother tongue, Sykes ultimately concludes that their love is not based on words. As such, he is not interested in the affectionate things she has to say. Rather it is the deeply-personal interactions they share which define the relationship. And the inaudible language spoken between his heart and hers is what he refers to as her “mother tongue”.
Facts about “Mother Tongue”
- Oliver Sykes penned “Mother Tongue” with bandmates Lee Malia, Matt Nicholls and Jordan Fish.
- Oliver Sykes and Jordan Fish worked on the song’s production. January 22, 2019 was the official release date of “Mother Tongue”. It was dropped as the fourth single from the band’s 2019 album Amo. Actually Amo is their sixth studio album.
- This was Bring Me the Horizon’s second single for 2019. Their first for the year in question was “Medicine“.
- This track was recorded at the iconic Sphere Studios located in Los Angeles, California. The aforementioned has for the past decades has hosted a plethora of great musical acts. Some of the big names who have recorded in this studio include Christina Aguilera, Alanis Morissette and No Doubt.
- Sykes dedicated this song and its entire album to Alissa.
- Jordan Fish played the role of a background vocalist on this track. This is a role Fish has played on several of the band’s songs.
- The three other singles on Amo are: “Mantra“, “Wonderful Life” and “Medicine“.
What Oliver Sykes has said about this song
According to Sykes, this is the “most gushing” love song of the Bring Me the Horizon. He said the song was written about when he and Alissa met for the first time.
Did You Know?:
The Portuguese version for the English phrase “I love” is “amo”. This is where Oliver Sykes derived the album’s title from. And Portuguese is the native language of Sykes’ second wife Alissa Salls.
Sykes and Alissa Salls (who is a model) got married in 2017.
