"Mama Was Always Tellin' Her Truth" lyrics - IRIS DEMENT

Well my mama she was always telling her truth, Times were hard and that's how she made it through
When it came to her feelings, wasn't no back burner on that stove
When something went wrong and she might start yelling or crying
If you didn't know better, you'd think one of us was dying
But that was mama and she just told her truth
I would sit in the church house right there beside her
Mama would move when the spirit would guide her
Waving her hands up to heaven singing her tune
But if the preacher said something and she didn't like
Her head would go to shaking, she just wouldn't hide it
That was mama and she just told her truth
When I was a kid coming in from school, I said
Mama, I'm so worried something could happen to you!
And if you die, Oh Mama, what am I gonna do?
She said, Iris just because I'm older than you
Don't be sure you won't go before I do
That was mama and she just told her truth

[Chorus:]
It was my mama who taught me
That I could tell my truth sometimes its all that I could do
Looking in from the outside, it might not seem like much
But Ill tell ya now, if that's what you're thinking
The truth can be the difference between swimming and sinking
I think my mama just told her truth

If she was glad she took you with her
If she was sad she took you too
There wasn't a lot of travelling she didn't do
Right there in that little house was a bigger world than I may ever see
Some people liked it and some people didn't
For some of what she said she may never be forgiven
But that was mama and she just told her truth
Life with my mama could sometimes be a rough road
She could say something and blood would burn in my soul
But I wouldn't trade one mile of this journey me and her have been on
'Cause I've loved my mama like I've never loved another
Long as I live there will be no one above her
I know my mama 'cause she told me her truth
Life as I know it can be a little confusing
I don't know the difference between winning and losing
Every time I find a line that I can walk on, it slips from view
But when it all goes dark and I start losing vision
I just think about her and I know just what I'm missing
I gotta go back to telling my truth

[Chorus]