When I was young and pushed around
And beaten up and beaten down
Who'd I run to mama tell me who

And as I grew to be a man
And all the world held such elan
I did what I thought I just had to do

It was you mama you, it was you all along
It was you I ran away from, I was wrong
And if I could I'd change my life
I swear to God I'd cut it out with a knife
And with a glue stick I'd reapply it in a song

And laid back Kerouac never had no heart attack
Drinking and thinking about the place that he ran back to
The moloch is an old man the moloch is a love-lack
Bending for a quick snack remembering his friend Jack
Mama sometimes and I remember you

It was you mama you, it was you all along
It was you I ran away from, I was wrong
And if I could I'd change my life
I swear to God I'd cut it out with a knife
And with a glue stick I'd reapply it in a song

Man loves woman
Mother loves child
Sometimes I call my lady, "Mama"
So I can feel at home for a while
So I can feel at home for a while

Looking around at all the Mellencamp towns
The excuses and the nooses where the coffee grounds
I found places and traces of a storybook world
And I went out there for a ride
On the misty coast but the holy host
Is under a Mickey D's American flag and it's unfurled

It was you mama you, it was you all along
It was you I ran away from, I was wrong
And if I could I'd change my life
I swear to God I'd cut it out with a knife
And with a glue stick I'd reapply it in a song
Man loves woman sometimes
Mother loves child
Sometimes I call my lady mama
So I can feel at home for a while
So I can feel at home for a while