Mama Was Always Tellin' Her Truth - Iris Dement

# 11 Mama Was Always Tellin Her Truth
Slow She'd walk down the levy from big alley all the Brighton every morning
(Piano intro)

Well my mama she was always tellin her truth, Times were hard and thats how she made it through
When it came to her feelins , wasnt no back burner on that stove
When somthin went wrong and she might start yellin or cryin
If you didnt know better, youd think one of us was dyin
But that was mama and she just told her truth

I would sit in the church house right there beside her
Mama would move when the spirit would guide her
Wavin her hands up to heaven singin her tune
But if the preacher said somethin and she didnt like
Her head would go to shakin, she just wouldnt hide it
That was mama and she just told her truth

When I was a kid comin in from school, I said
Mama , Im so worried something could happen to you!
And if you die, Oh Mama, what am I gonna do?
She said, Iris just because Im older than you
Dont be sure you wont go before I do
That was mama and she just told her truth

It was my mama who taught me
That i could tell my truth sometimes its all that I could do
Lookin in from the outside, it might not seem like much
But Ill tell ya now, if thats what youre thinkin
The truth can be the difference between swimmin and sinkin
I think my mama just told her truth

If she was glad she took you with her
If she was sad she took you too
There wasnt a lot of travellin she didnt do
Right there in that little house was a bigger world than I may ever see
Some people liked it and some people didnt
For some of what she said she may never be forgiven
But that was mama and she just told her truth
Life with my mama could sometimes be a rough road
She could say somethin and blood would burn in my soull
But I wouldnt trade one mile of this journey me and her have been on
Cause Ive loved my mama like Ive never loved another
Long as I live there will be no one above her
I know my mama cause she told me her truth

Life as I know it can be a little confusing
I dont know the difference between winnin and losin
Everytime I find a line that I can walk on, it slips from view
But when it all goes dark and I start losing vision
I just think about her and I know just what Im missin
I gotta go back to tellin my truth (repeat chorus)