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 saying
Gonna let your hair hang down
I'm satisfied to sit here working all day long
You're in the darker side of town

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

That's the way
Oh, that's the way it ought to be
Don't you know
Mama said, oh, mama said
That's the way it ought to stay

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
Had they got you hypnotized

And yesterday I saw you kissing tiny flowers
But all that lives is born to die
And so I say to you that nothing really matterrs
And all you do is stand and cry

I don't know what to say about it
When all your ears have turned away
But now's the time to look
And look again at what you see
Is that the way it ought to stay

That's the way
Oh, that's the way it oughta be
Oh, dont you know now
Mama said that's the way it's gonna stay