Mom was cookin' bread
  She wore a dirty, raggedy scarf around her head,
  Always had her stockings low,
  Rolled to her feet, she just didn't know
  
  She wore a sloppy dress
  Oh, no matter how she tried, she always looked a mess
  Out of the pot she ate,
  Never used a fork or a dinner plate
  
  I was always so afraid for my uptown friends to see her,
  Afraid one day when I was grown, that I would be her
  
  In a college town
  Away from home, a new identity I found,
  Said I was born elite
  With maids and servants at my feet
  
  I must have been insane
  I lied and said Mama died on a weekend trip to Spain
  She never got out of the house,
  Never even boarded a train
  
  Married a guy, was livin' high, I didn't want him to know her
  She had a grandson two years old that I never even showed her
  
  I'm livin' in shame
  Mama, I miss you
  I know you're not to blame
  Mama, I miss you
  
  BREAK
  
  Came a telegram
  Mama passed away while making homemade jam
  Before she died,
  She cried to see me by her side
  
  She always did her best
  Oh, cooked and cleaned and always in the same old dress,
  Workin' hard down on her knees,
  Always tryin' to please
  
  Mama, Mama, Mama, can you hear me?
  Mama, Mama, Mama, can you hear me?
  
  I'm livin' in shame
  Mama, I miss you
  I know you've done your best
  Mama, I miss you
  
  Won't you forgive me, Mom,
  For all the wrong I've done?
  I know you've done your best
  I know you've done the very best you could
  But I never understood
  Workin' hard down on your knees,
  Mama, you were always, always tryin' to please
  (fade out)