The Momma 'n' Daddy Collection 129

This one's fresh off the new Iris DeMent album, Sing The Delta. The song is 'Mama Was Always Tellin' Her Truth', and here is Iris singing it.

This is the lyric:

Well, my mama she was always tellin' her truth
Times were hard and that's how she made it through
When it came to her feelings, wasn't no back burner on that stove
So if something would go wrong and she might start yellin' or cryin'
If you didn't know better you'd think that one of us was dyin'
That was Mama and she just told her truth

And I would sit in the churchhouse 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 didn't like it
Her head would go shakin', she just would not hide it
That was Mama and she just told her truth

When I was a kid comin' in from school, I said
'Mama, I'm so worried something could happen to you!
If you die, oh Mama, what am I gonna do?'
She said 'Iris, just because I'm older than you
Don't be so sure you won't go before I do'
That was Mama and she just told her truth

(chorus)
It was my mama who taught me that I could tell my truth
And sometimes it's all that I can do
Lookin' in from the outside, it may not seem like (so) much
But I'll tell ya now, if that's what you're thinkin'
Your truth can be the difference between swimmin' and sinkin'
I thank my mama for tellin' me her truth

If she was glad she took you with her
If she was sad she'd take you too
Wasn't a lot of travellin' she didn't do
Right there in that little house was a bigger world than I will ever see
Some people liked it, and some people didn't
For some of what she said she may never be forgiven
That was Mama and she just told her truth.

And life with my mama could sometimes be a rough road
She could say something and blood would pour from my soul
But I wouldn't trade one mile of the journey me and her have been on
Cause I've loved my mama like I've 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 confusin'
I don't know the difference between winnin' and losin'
Every time I find a line that I can walk on, it slips from view
But when it all goes dark and I start losin' vision
I just think about her and I know just what I'm missin'
I gotta go back to telling my truth.

Repeat chorus

[The Momma 'n' Daddy Archive, containing all the details of the series, is here.]