I remember Mama,
and the love that she gave
Kneeling by her bed side
I can still hear Mama say,
"The people are depending on you, Shirley,
don't you let them down"
I remember Mama in a happy way
We went to school with holes in our shoes
We didn't have much
But the Lord saw us through
Mama kept the family together
I remember Mama in a happy way
She packed our lunch in an old greasy bag
It might've seemed empty,
but it was more than others had
It had a lot of love way down deep inside (yes it did) and I remember Mama in a happy way
I remember Mama in a happy way
Now Mama is sleeping in the bosom of Jesus Christ(yeah)
Somehow I know she's smiling, she's smiling on us right now
One day I'll see her again, how happy I will be (yeah yeah)
And I remember Mama in a happy way (yeah yeah)
I remember Mama in a happy way
My brothers and sisters, they're living far apart
Although my Mama's gone, she's right here in our hearts
We're all gonna pull together and stay in the holy place
I remember Mama in a happy way
I remember Mama in a happy way
[spoken]
you know I remember my mama
when I was about twelve years old
I was going to church, playing church
How many of you use to play church (let me see ya hands)
Yeah some of you are still playing
and I remember
I went down mt calvary
that where I belong
and I'll jump and I'll shout and come back home
but I was still disobedient
I would talk back
and one day
me and Ann here, we decided we wanted to play church
let me tell what we did
we went out in the back and started playing church
and my brother was the pastor
Me and Ann here was the members of the church
and let me tell you something
It's hard to come in contact with Jesus and still be the same
I don't care who you are, you can be the cheifs of sinners
You will never be the same
and I been going down to the chruch playing church
came home, still disobedient
didn't want to wash the dishes
didn't want to bring the clothes off the line
didn't want to do anything
and mama said "I'm sick of you going down to that church playing with God"
Me and Ann there went outside and we started playing church
sat down on the bottom step
My brother was a preacher and we were the members of the church
and he would put on some old glasses and would put them right here on his nose
He said I want you to jump up and shout Jesus three times
and I jumped up and shouted Jesus two times, but when I jumped up the third time
something got ahold of me
I couldn't sit back down
Ann ran in the house
she said "Mama Shirley Ann is out there playing with Lord"
Mama came to the door and she looked out there and saw me
shouting and dancing all over the backyard tears running down my face
Mama looked out there and she said "She ain't playing this time"
Hallelujah!
I remember Mama in a happy way (I remember mama)
I remember Mama in a happy way (I remember mama)
I remember my mama
I remember Mama in a happy way
and the love that she gave
Kneeling by her bed side
I can still hear Mama say,
"The people are depending on you, Shirley,
don't you let them down"
I remember Mama in a happy way
We went to school with holes in our shoes
We didn't have much
But the Lord saw us through
Mama kept the family together
I remember Mama in a happy way
She packed our lunch in an old greasy bag
It might've seemed empty,
but it was more than others had
It had a lot of love way down deep inside (yes it did) and I remember Mama in a happy way
I remember Mama in a happy way
Now Mama is sleeping in the bosom of Jesus Christ(yeah)
Somehow I know she's smiling, she's smiling on us right now
One day I'll see her again, how happy I will be (yeah yeah)
And I remember Mama in a happy way (yeah yeah)
I remember Mama in a happy way
My brothers and sisters, they're living far apart
Although my Mama's gone, she's right here in our hearts
We're all gonna pull together and stay in the holy place
I remember Mama in a happy way
I remember Mama in a happy way
[spoken]
you know I remember my mama
when I was about twelve years old
I was going to church, playing church
How many of you use to play church (let me see ya hands)
Yeah some of you are still playing
and I remember
I went down mt calvary
that where I belong
and I'll jump and I'll shout and come back home
but I was still disobedient
I would talk back
and one day
me and Ann here, we decided we wanted to play church
let me tell what we did
we went out in the back and started playing church
and my brother was the pastor
Me and Ann here was the members of the church
and let me tell you something
It's hard to come in contact with Jesus and still be the same
I don't care who you are, you can be the cheifs of sinners
You will never be the same
and I been going down to the chruch playing church
came home, still disobedient
didn't want to wash the dishes
didn't want to bring the clothes off the line
didn't want to do anything
and mama said "I'm sick of you going down to that church playing with God"
Me and Ann there went outside and we started playing church
sat down on the bottom step
My brother was a preacher and we were the members of the church
and he would put on some old glasses and would put them right here on his nose
He said I want you to jump up and shout Jesus three times
and I jumped up and shouted Jesus two times, but when I jumped up the third time
something got ahold of me
I couldn't sit back down
Ann ran in the house
she said "Mama Shirley Ann is out there playing with Lord"
Mama came to the door and she looked out there and saw me
shouting and dancing all over the backyard tears running down my face
Mama looked out there and she said "She ain't playing this time"
Hallelujah!
I remember Mama in a happy way (I remember mama)
I remember Mama in a happy way (I remember mama)
I remember my mama
I remember Mama in a happy way