Toronto-based singer-songwriter Rosanne Baker Thornley unveils the official music video for her beautifully introspective single, “Her Mother’s Eyes” – a cinematic, heartwarming track inspired by the quiet, emotional power of a single wedding morning photo. Framed through a mother’s gaze, the song pays tribute to the intricate, ever-changing relationship between mothers and daughters.

Drawn from a deeply personal experience, “Her Mother’s Eyes” paints a vivid scene: a daughter on her wedding day, the final touches of makeup being applied, a veil waiting in the stylist’s hand — and a mother witnessing the culmination of years in one fleeting moment. It’s a song that acknowledges the little girl who still lives within the woman standing before her, and the life they’ve shared leading up to this day.

Thornley‘s signature vulnerability and lyrical honesty guide the track, giving voice to emotions rarely explored in contemporary folk and singer-songwriter spaces. With cinematic grace and gentle restraint, the song unfolds like memory itself – tender, truthful, and timeless.

1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically? 

“Her Mother’s Eyes” is a song that stirred in me when I was looking at the photos I took the morning of my daughter’s wedding. This is a song that captures what was, in one particular photo, an overwhelming feeling that I couldn’t pull away from.

For what was a ridiculous amount of time, I sat there looking at the photo filled with such intense emotion as I looked at my daughter getting the final touches of her makeup applied, and the hair stylist standing behind waiting to place her veil. It was in that moment, and a look on her face, that I could fully see that little girl of mine and the lovely woman she had become.

I’ll never forget how that felt. And how I knew in that moment that I had to capture what was inside of me. It’s the depth of that love and that feeling that inspired me to write “Her Mother’s Eyes”. 

I write from a space inside a song where I can feel as well as see the moment and setting around me. A song is as much audio as it is visceral and visual for me. There’s something very sensory in all of it. And because of my passion for taking photos, I’m inspired to capture these moments which I feel do much the same as what a song does. 

2. What was the inspiration behind this video (visuals, storyline, etc.)? 

To immerse people in a song, in a lyric, in a feeling, in the space of a moment … and to have them hear, feel and see those 3 minutes 35 seconds, to pull the audience into your song through their heart, their eyes … how soul-fulfilling is that …

Because of the strength of the story behind “Her Mother’s Eyes”, I didn’t feel that the video needed to spend a lot of time focused on me singing. Infact Director – Yeimy Daza, Cinematographer – Artem Mykhailetskyi and I agreed that the story was better served having me appear at the end in a cameo to establish whose eyes you were experiencing this through.

We knew we wanted to draw on the emotional connection of the song and to share not only the experience of seeing the bride through a mother’s eyes, but to also share the mother seeing her daughter as a young child. There were quite a few discussions around how we would accomplish this, as well as thoughts on the camera being the mother’s eyes, which determined the position of the camera – and how the camera (the eyes) experienced the room. We also discussed a more filmatic approach to setting the scene and staying in the calm of it. 

I love black and white imagery which I leverage in my own photography work. I love that b&w simplifies what you see and channels your focus through a less busy palette. I love that it immediately immerses you into a thoughtful moment. A moment that is romantic, thoughtful, dramatic, sophisticated, powerful, immediate. 

3. What was the process of making this video?

My visual team and I had been discussing this video for years. In fact this song was originally going to be the first single from my album “Sorry I’m Late”. But when Covid changed the landscape, it made no sense to release a song about a wedding. 

We had had for quite some time the video treatment. So when I hit the green light on releasing the single recently, it was game on for getting this video into production on a budget that was fueled more with generosity and a want to be part of it, than on dollars. I must say that my videos reflect far larger budgets than the budgets that actually are. This is made possible only through people who are passionate about creating art they are proud to be part of. 

We knew that the video would be an undertaking in finding resources – but we were confident in the song and the team representing what it was we were going to do. We also knew that due to our limited budget constraints that our extensive planning would lead to filming this video in one day. 

Finding the right location proved to be our biggest obstacle which I spent endless months searching for – and found and secured, after months of negotiation and emails. Yay! Phew! The wedding dress was attained through Becker’s Bridal a local wedding boutique that my daughter and I have admired the windows of since she was a little girl. When I initially spoke with Becker’s they were trepidated about the notion of ‘loaning’ us a dress, but quickly came on board after hearing the song and reviewing the video treatment. Yeimy’s actor friend Natalia Aranguren, who was herself getting married at the end of May, was thrilled to be part of it. Good friend and casting agent Sam Ottaviano (S.A.M Agency) was instrumental in finding Eva Luna Machin Gonzale who was our lovely child actor. Yeimy, Artem and I were the project producers, which in these so-small productions encompassed all the tasks from producer to craft services to wardrobe to props to picking up and dropping off gear. 

So there we were with all the pieces carefully considered, the actors ready to go, a wedding gown loaned and altered, hair/makeup person Audrey Guegan ready with lipstick and hairspray, my daughter Taylor Thornley-Schollar with her camera primed to capture the behind-the-scenes images, my husband Michael waiting in the wings to lend a hand and haul gear, and a long-awaited plan ready to realize! And then at the last minute, our long–confirmed location fell through. Arghhh. Fortunately, in the studio a few days later with my good friend, Producer Ben Pelchat, when I mentioned that our filming location had fizzled, he pointed me to Studio Bon Soleil (Marie Dame) who graciously accommodated our budget, and provided what turned out to be a far superior location to our previous site that had fallen through. The room, those windows, the ceiling height and the daylight streaming through – all of which were a huge priority in creating the look and feel of the video, was absolutely perfect! 

The day was long and full and fruitful. It was a day that was a great experience, one that will be fondly remembered by those who were there in the room. 

The editing was provided by Youssef Mutawe who fell into the rhythm of the song to create the lovely visual experience – the ebb and flow of a bride and a child as seen through a mother’s eyes. 

I’m pleased to at last be sharing “Her Mother’s Eyes” and to have such a beautiful and heartwarming video to carry it into the world.  Thanks to the wonderful talent and generosity of my mighty visual team – my village.
Thank you Modern Mystery. It’s been my pleasure to share with you a bit of what brought “Her Mother’s Eyes” into the world. I greatly enjoyed the deep dive into how it came to be. Thank you for asking.