Mama tells the story as a warning to us all
how my birth was a very close call
when i felt the pressure of her muscles on my skull
i wound around the belly cord, refused to leave the lull
of blood and offal and a beating heart
heart flutters like wings
they pulled me out
they slipped me slippery in my father's arms
i was the fourth and the fourth one's a charm
and mama would always sing this song

I was a hard luck charm for my father and my mother
Ask for the easy child, they'll show you my brother
someone burned the heirloom curtains
someone stole pretty everything
someone scratched out brother's drawings
it always made sense to me
I put my mama back on the shelf
She wasn't as easy as anybody else
Wasn't easy as anyone else

one year my bones were soft as jelly
one year i only ate pasta and jam
i ran around town like a little monkey
teenage vegan with a bad attention span.
But some things never changed,
Johnny Cash nights, Lake Wobegone Saturdays
the men in my family were strong,
and all the women help them move along
the children stuck at way above average
they never said anything about theirmadness
but some things never change....

Someday I will have a child, and I will call my mama
She'll come over and we'll have a Mamarama
We'll be smart about a lot of things
Break each other's hearts about a lot of things
a prodigal daughter just trying harder
trying to remember that song that Mama sings