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 off years ago, a drunkard down in Memphis
Lost a month of life in labour to the county jail
Just because he asked a little green-eyed girl a question
And offered her a nickel's worth of candy if she'd tell

A year and some odd days ago, an old man died in Memphis
Just another wayward soul, the county'd had to pay
Inside the old man's ragged coat, they found a faded letter
It said: "You have 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?