She thinks she knows you 
She thinks she owns you 
She wants everything to be 
The way she told you 
Of course she loves you 
Worries about you 
She'll smother you 'till you're chokin' 
Tell me, don't you 

Say Mama, tell me why 
Has pleasure got to rhyme with sacrifice? 
You had your ways 
I have mine 
Your little girls a woman 
Don't you realize? 

Of course she loves you 
She adores you 
She'll smother you 'till you're chokin' 
Tell me, don't you? 

She'll try to cage you 
She'll enrage you 
Walking 'round your life 
Deciding for you 
Sometimes she'll praise you 
Sometimes she'll scorn you 
Her dreams from yesterday 
Could have destroyed you 

Now Mama, tell me why? 
Has pleasure got to rhyme with sacrifice? 
You had your days 
I have mine 
Your little girl's a woman now  
For quite some time