[Verse 1]
I ain't got much to go on, just a box of photographs
And every picture tells a story, but every story has two halves
I keep 'em separate in before-and-after piles
Somewhere in the middle is where mama lost her smile

[Verse 2]
Somewhere in the summer back in 1982
Daddy took a job in town and we all had to move
I feel like there's one missing, I've felt it for a while
One that's gonna tell me, how mama lost her smile

[Chorus]
But you don't take pictures of the bad times
We only wanna remember all the sunshine
We don't live in pictures, this is real life
And they're about as different as black and white

[Verse 3]
I don't know why it matters, I just know it does
It's not like it'll change things to find out what it was
She would never tell us that just ain't her style
But I wish I knew the reason why mama lost her smile

[Chorus]
But you don't take pictures of the bad times
We only wanna remember all the sunshine
We don't live in pictures, this is real life
And they're about as different as black and white
[Bridge]
We're all a little older and we're all a little worn
We're all a little faded and we're all a little torn

[Chorus]
But you don't take pictures of the bad times
We only wanna remember all the sunshine
We don't live in pictures, this is real life
And they're about as different as black and white

[Outro]
I ain't got much to go on, just a box of photographs
Every picture tells a story and every story has two halves