Lance James

What's Your Mama's Name Child?


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What's your mama's name, child?
What's your mama's name?

Thirty-some-odd years ago a young man came to Memphis
Asking 'bout a rose that used to blossom in his world
People never took the time to mind the young man's questions
Until one day they heard him ask a little green-eyed girl

What's your mama's name, child?
What's your mama's name?
Does she ever talk about
A place called New Orleans?

Has she ever mentioned
A man named Buford Wilson?
What's your mama's name, child?
What's your mama's name?

Twenty-some-odd years ago a lonely man in Memphis
Spent some years and many tears lookin' for a girl
Whenever he began to ask those same old simple questions
People did not understand the longing in his heart

A year and some-odd days ago an old man died in Memphis
Just another wayward soul the County had to claim
Inside the old man's ragged coat they found a faded letter
It said you've got a daughter and her eyes are Wilson green

What's your mama's name, child?
What's your mama's name?
Does she ever talk about
A place called New Orleans?

Has she ever mentioned
A man named Buford Wilson?
What's your mama's name, child?
What's your mama's name?

What's your mama's name, child?
What's your mama's name?


Writer/s: DALLAS FRAZIER, EARL MONTGOMERY