Mama’s little baby won’t hush down
She’s spookin’ all the hens and the old milk cow
Rest your head in the cradle now
Ain’t no one gonna hear a sound

Daddy laid it all on the wrong black mare
Hopped the next train to God knows where
But God don’t go where your daddy’s gone
Where the cowards and the fools belong

Mama waited up on the porch all night
Waited up ‘til the morning light
She fed those hens and she milked that cow
Then she got behind the old man’s plow

And late last night a bad man came
Screamin’ curses at your daddy’s name
You woke screamin’ to a frightening sound
And your mama laying on the ground
A bad man running down the back door stairs
Blame it all on the wrong black mare

Mama’s little baby won’t hush down
She’s spookin’ all the hens and the old milk cow
Rest your head in the cradle now
Ain’t no one gonna hear a sound