[Verse 1]
I can't sell my mama short on loving me
I guess that's why she let me go so far
Mama try to stopped me short of stealing
I guess that's why I had to steal that car
She told me not to smoke it
But I did and it took me far away
And I turned out to be
The only hell my mama ever raised
Well, I rolled into Atlanta, stolen tags and almost out of gas
I had to get some money, and lately I'd learned how to get it fast
Those neon lights were calling me and somehow I just had to get downtown
So I reached into the glove box, another liquor store went down

[Chorus]
And I'd sing, "Precious memories, take me back to the good ol' days"
Let me hear my mama singing, "Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me"
She tried to turn me on to Jesus, but I turned on to the Devil's ways
And I turned out to be the only hell my mama ever raised

[Verse 2]
Well, they put them handcuffs on me, Lord, how I fought to resist
But agent clamped 'em tighter, 'til that metal bit into my wrist
They took my belt and my billfold, my fingerprints, and the profile of my face
And then they locked away the only hell my mama ever raised

[Chorus]
And I'd sing, "Precious memories, take me back to the good ol' days"
Let me hear my mama singing, "Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me"
She tried to turn me on to Jesus, but I turned on to the Devil's ways
And I turned out to be the only hell my mama ever raised

[Instrumental Bridge]

[Chorus]
And I'd sing, "Precious memories, take me back to the good ol' days"
Let me hear my mama singing, "Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me"
She tried to turn me on to Jesus, but I turned on to the Devil's ways
And I turned out to be the only hell my mama ever raised