Fore She Was Mama

'Bout ten years old, hide and seek

I found me in the closet

Ready or not I stumbled on

And opened up that box of

Yearbooks, letters, black and whites

A hundred, maybe more

Next thing I know my brothers and me

Got 'em scattered on the floor (Yeah)

There was one of her, flippin' the bird

Sittin' on a Harley

And a few with some hairy hippie dude

Turns out his name was Charlie

Her hair, her clothes, her drinkin' smokin'

Had us boys confused

I'll never forget the day us nosey kids got introduced

To Mama, 'fore she was Mama

In a string bikini, in Tijuana

Won't admit she smoked marijuana

But I saw Mama, 'fore she was Mama

We put that box right where it was

And never said a word

But growin' up got hard just tryin'

Not to picture her

In anything but aprons, dresses

Mini-vans and church

Oh and Daddy would have whooped our butts

For diggin' up that dirt

On Mama, 'fore she was Mama

In a string bikini, in Tijuana

She won't admit she smoked marijuana

But I saw Mama, 'fore she was Mama

We laugh and hang it over her head

Right above her halo

Her face turns red when we bring up

That tie-dyed Winnebago

She runs and hides and still denies

That hip high rose tattoo

She burned that box of forget-me-nots

When she found out we knew

About Mama, 'fore she was Mama

In a string bikini, in Tijuana

Won't admit she smoked marijuana

But that was Mama, 'fore she was Mama

And there's that one down in the Bahamas

But that was Mama, 'fore she was Mama