'Fore She Was Mama

�Bout ten years old, hide and seek
I found me in the closet
Ready or not I stumbled on
And opened up that box of
Yearbooks, letters, black and whites
A hundred, maybe more
Next thing I know my brothers and me
Got �em scattered on the floor (Yeah)

There was one of her, flippin� the bird
Sittin� on a Harley
And a few with some hairy hippie dude
Turns out his name was Charlie
Her hair, her clothes, her drinkin� smokin�
Had us boys confused
I�ll never forget the day us nosey kids got introduced

To Mama, �fore she was Mama
In a string bikini, in Tijuana
Won�t admit she smoked marijuana
But I saw Mama, �fore she was Mama

We put that box right where it was
And never said a word
But growin� up got hard just tryin�
Not to picture her
In anything but aprons, dresses
Mini-vans and church
Oh and Daddy would have whooped our butts
For diggin� up that dirt

On Mama, �fore she was Mama
In a string bikini, in Tijuana
She won�t admit she smoked marijuana
But I saw Mama, �fore she was Mama

We laugh and hang it over her head
Right above her halo
Her face turns red when we bring up
That tie-dyed Winnebago
She runs and hides and still denies
That hip high rose tattoo
She burned that box of forget-me-nots
When she found out we knew

About Mama, �fore she was Mama
In a string bikini, in Tijuana
Won�t admit she smoked marijuana
But that was Mama, �fore she was Mama

And there�s that one down in the Bahamas
But that was Mama, �fore she was Mama