‘Speaking With the Angel’ is the most enduring track from Ron Sexsmith’s studio debut. It has been covered by several artists and adopted as an anthem for such causes as Christianity and autism.

Author Nick Hornby borrowed the title for a book of short stories (by various writers) with the proceeds going to a school for autistic chlidren. Hornby’s own son is autistic (and a student at the school) and in the introduction he described this track as “heart-meltingly relevant” to his son’s condition.

I’ve heard the song in that context ever since, but I recently read an interview in which Sexsmith says he wrote the song about his then recently born son, who isn’t autistic. But a song about the innocence of a newborn can easily apply to an older child who is innocent in a much different way.

Either way, this feels like an appropriate song for Mother’s Day. So Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there, especially my own!