Mama Was Always Tellin' Her Truth - Iris DeMent

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 feelin’s, wasn’t no back burner on that stove

Some little somethin' would go wrong and she might start yellin' or cryin'

If you didn’t know better, you’d 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 didn’t like it

Her head would go to shakin', she just wouldn’t 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!»

And if you die, Oh Mama, what am I gonna do?"

She said, Iris just because I’m older than you

Don’t be sure you won’t go before I do

That was mama and she just told her truth

It was my mama who taught me I could tell my truth

And sometimes it’s all that I can do

Lookin' in from the outside, it might not seem like 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 took you too

There wasn’t a lot of travellin' she didn’t do

Right there in that little house was a bigger world than I may ever see

Some people liked it and some people didn’t

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 pour from my soul

But I wouldn’t trade one mile of this 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 confusing

I don’t 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 I’m missin'

I gotta go back to tellin' my truth

It was my mama who taught me I could tell my truth

And sometimes it’s all that I can do

Lookin' in from the outside, it might not seem like 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