[Verse 1]
I don't know how I'm gonna tell you
I can't play with you no more
I don't know how I'm gonna do what mama told me
My friend, the boy next door

I can't believe what people sayin'
You're gonna let your hair hang down
I'm satisfied to sit here working all day long
You're in the darkest side of town, whatcha doin, whatcha doin, whatcha doin there, I know?

[Bridge]
And when I'm out I see you walking
Why don't your eyes see me?
Could it be you've found another game to play?
What did mama say to me? Oh-oh-oh

[Chorus]
That's the way, ohhhh, oh, oh yeah-ee-yeah, oh now
Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma, ma m-m-ma m-m-mama
That's the way it ought to stay, I don't think so
Sho' don't think so
Ohhh oh-oh-oh, ohhh oh-oh-oh, oh, oh oh-oh, whoa

[Verse 2]
And yesterday I saw you standing by the river
And weren't those tears that filled your eyes?
And all the fish that lay in dirty water dying, dying
Had they got you hypnotized, oh dear?
Yesterday I saw you kissing tiny flowers
But all that lives is born to die
And so I say to you that nothing really matters, no no
And all you do is stand and cry, I know, I know

[Chorus]
That's the way
That's the way it oughta be
Oh, don't you know now?
And when I wake up in the morning, morning, morning, I tell my mama
That's the way it oughta stay, I don't think so, uh uh, oh

Ohhh oh-oh-oh, ohhh oh-oh-oh, oh, ah-ah-ah
Hey, it ain't right, it ain't right, it ain't right, it ain't right, mama, mama

It ain't right, it ain't right, it ain't right, no no no no

Oh, oh
Oh, oh-oh
Oohh