Mama said that thirteen was too young to think my lips
And too young to run with me and twice my years
But when you're young and yearn to be a woman what does your mother know

I couldn't understand her hangups and her fears
A year went by and I got tired of mama's foolish advice
At fourteen I was sure I knew it all
It wasn't like it was at home out on the streets so long
Me I lived outside the law
Now I'm livin' in the cold grey world hear me cryin' in the night
Missin' even mom and dad and a man to hold me tight
I should've listened to my mama and seen the visdom in her eyes
And the Tennessee women's prison wouldn't be my mama tonight

If I ever get out of this nasty cell I'll never be back again
Cause mama has sure got smarter every day since I've been in
I gonna follow the straight and narrow if I can just get my parole
And the Tennessee women's prison won't own my soul
Cause I'm livin' in the cold grey world...
And this Tennessee women's prison wouldn't be my mama tonight