Songs about abortion.

There are some songs that talk about abortion from a political perspective. We don't include those here. The songs collected here are about the experience of abortion, mostly. Some are about having to decide whether or not to have one.

Tori Amos, "Playboy Mommy" (you can listen to it here)

Kenny Chesney's 2003 single "There Goes My Life" is the exact opposite of the Tori Amos song. It's "about a teenager preparing to become a father."

"The Last Time I Cry" (scroll down and click to listen)

"Ocean Floor", Audio Adrenaline. Not specifically about abortion, but could well be. The "You" spoken to in the first verse isn't a partner, but rather God, whose reply is in the choruses: "Your sins are erased/ And they are no more/ They’re out on the ocean floor."

The mistakes I've made
That cause pain
I could have done without
All my selfish thought
All my pride
The things I hide
You have forgot about

They’re all behind you
They’ll never find you
They're on the ocean floor
Your sins are forgotten
They’re on the bottom
Of the ocean floor

My misdeeds
All my greed
All the things that haunt me now
They’re not a pretty sight to see
But they're wiped away
By a mighty, mighty wave
A mighty, mighty wave

Your sins are erased
And they are no more
They’re out on the ocean floor

Take them away
To return no more
Take them away
To the ocean floor
To the ocean floor
To the ocean floor

Your sins are erased
They are no more
They’re out on the ocean floor

Ani DiFranco on the album Ani DiFranco sings The Lost Woman Song.

I'm just another woman lost
you are like fish in the water
who don't know that they are wet
as far as I can tell
the world isn't perfect yet
his bored eyes were obscene
on his denim thighs a magazine
I wish he'd never come here with me
in fact I wish he'd never come near me
I wish his shoulder
wasn't touching mine
I am growing older
waiting in this line
some of lifes best lessons
are learned at the worst times
under the fierce flourescent
she offered her hand for me to hold
she offered stability and calm
and I was crushing her palm
through the pinch pull wincing
my smile unconvincing
on that sterile battlefield that sees
only casualties
never heros
my heart hit absolute zero.

NICK CANNON - "Can I Live"

Talking Ma
I know the Situation is Personal
But it something that has to be told
As I was making this beat
You was all I could think about you heard my voice

Yeah Just think Just Think
What if you could Just
Just blink your self away..
Just Just wait just pause for a second
Let me plead my case
It's the late 70's Huh
You Seventeen huh
And having me that will ruin everything huh
It's alot of angels waiting on their wings
You see me in your sleep so you cant kill your dreams
300 Dollars thats the price of living what?
Mommy I dont like this clinic
Hopefully you'll make the right decision
And dont go through with the Knife incision
But it's hard to make the right move
When you in high school
How you have to work all day and take night school
Hopping off da bus when the rain is pouring
What you want morning sickness or the sickness of mourning

[Chorus]
I'll Always Be a part of you
Trust Your Soul Know it's always true
If I Could Talk I'd Say To You
CAN I LIVE, CAN I LIVE
I'll Always Be a part of you
Trust Your Soul Know it's always true
If I Could Talk I'd Say To You
CAN I LIVE, CAN I LIVE

I am a child of the king
Ain't no need to go fear me
And I see the flowing tears so know that you hear me
When I move in your womb that's me being scary
Cause who knows what my future holds
Yo the truth be told you ain't told a soul
Yo you ain't even showing I'm just 2 months old
Through your clothes try to hide me deny me
Went up 3 sizes
Your pride got you lying saying ain't nothing but a migraine
It ain't surprising you not trying to be in Wic food lines
Your friends will look at you funny but look at you mommy
That's a life inside you look at your tummy
What is becoming ma I am Oprah bound
You can tell he's a star from the Ultrasound
Our Sprits Connected Doors Open Now
Nothing But Love And Respect Thanks For Holding Me Down She Let Me Live...


It's uplifting foreal yall
I ain't passing no judgement
Ain't making no decisions
I am just telling ya'll my story
I love life
I love my mother for giving me life
We all need to appreciate life
A strong woman that had to make a sacrifice
Thanks for listening
Thanks for listening
Mama thanks for listening

Retrospect for Life was written and recorded by Common and is thought to be autobiographical. The refrain is a triple repetition of the line, "'Cause three hundred and fifteen dollars ain't worth your soul." It is included on the album One Day It'll All Make Sense. You can listen to part of the song through that link. A reviewer comments here. The full lyrics are here:

"Turnin’ this woman’s womb into a tomb/I’m sorry for takin’ your first breath, first step, first cry. From now on I’ma use self-control instead of birth control, cause $315 ain’t worth your soul."

The Sex Pistols wrote and recorded Bodies on this album.

She was a girl from Birmingham
she just had an abortion
she was a case of insanity
her name was Pauline she lived in a tree.

Ben Folds wrote and recorded the haunting Brick when he was working with Ben Folds Five. It is on the album Whatever & Ever Amen. (A sound recording is available at that link.)

Now she's feeling more alone
Than she ever has before
She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly.

Real Killer was written and recorded by Tech N9ne on this album. It is said to be autobiographical. It is about three girlfriends and five abortions.

Walked in
And he told us to relax
I sat
And he took
Her and baby to the back
Before I came
I smoked some dope
To calm me
They came back
And she was baby less
And she was looking like a zombie
Baby gone (Baby gone)

Red Ragtop, sung by Tim McGraw is recorded on the album Tim McGraw and the Dance Hall Doctors.

We were young and wild
We decided not to have the child
So we did what we did and we tried to forget
And we swore up and down there would be no regrets
In the morning light
But on the way home that night

(Chorus)
From the back of that red ragtop
She said please don't stop loving me

We took one more trip around the sun
But it was all make believe in the end
And no I can't say where she is today
I can't remember who I was back then

Well you do what you do and you pay for your sins
And there's no such thing as what might have been
That's a waste of time
Drive you out of your mind
I was stopped at a red light just yesterday
Beside a young girl in a cabriolet
And her eyes were green
And I was in an old scene

(Chorus)
I was back in that red ragtop
On the day she stopped loving me
I was back in that red ragtop
On the day she stopped loving me.

Graham Parker sings You Can't Be Too Strong on this album. The full lyrics and a number of links to discussions about this song are posted here, but here's a small excerpt:

Well I ain't gonna cry, I'm gonna rejoice, and shout myself dry and go see the boys,
They'll laugh when I say I left it overseas
Yeah babe, I know it gets dark, down by Luna Park, but everybody else is squeezing out a spark,
That happened in the heat, somewhere in the dark.
The doctor gets nervous completing the service, he's all rubber glovers and no head,
Yes, he fumbles the light switch, it's just another minor hitch,
wishes to God he was dead.