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 sayin'

You're 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

Yeah, yeah, mama said

That's the way it ought to stay, yeah, yeah

Ooh ooh, ooh ooh



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 matters

And all you do is stand and cry



I don't know what to say about it

When all you 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

That's the way it oughta be

Oh don't you know now

Mama said, mama said that's the way it's gonna stay, yeah