(ry cooder)



Hey, mama, don't you treat your daughter mean

Hey, mama, don't you treat your daughter mean

'cause you treat her so mean and she's only sweet sixteen



It was late last friday evening, when everything was still

I heard somebody calling my name outside my window sill

I got up and i looked outside strainin' my eyes to see

And my heart went wild when i realized just who was calling me



I hollered

Hey, mama, don't you treat your daughter mean

Hey, mama, don't you treat your daughter mean

'cause you treat her so mean and she's only sweet sixteen



Now, her eyes were blazing up at me

Her hair was black as night

And her naked skin shone like gold

Out in the pale moonlight

She took my hand and she pulled me down

Where the grass had grown up tall

The she moved her body all around

Just like a cannon ball



Hey, mama, don't you treat your daughter mean

Hey, mama, don't you treat your daughter mean

'cause you treat her so mean and she's only sweet sixteen



Yonder comes your mama, girl, 'cross the field

Runnin' and a-shakin' like an automobile

Daddy's got a shotgun in his hand

They just don't understand

The first time i seen that sweet girl

She was runnin' home from sunday school

And the next time i seen that sweet little girl

Was when she broke her mama's rule

But the last time i seen that sweet little girl

She was filled with a strange desire

Rollin' and tumblin' out on the cold wet ground

Her skin burnin' up just like a cane fire

She called my name a thousand ways

The tears came streaming down her face

But just when i was 'bout to blow my stack

Her daddy came a-creepin' and a-crawlin' up behind

And he shot me in the back


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