Mama Was Always Tellin' Her Truth Lyrics - Sing The Delta - 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)