I hit the road out of high school
With a guitar in my hand
I fell in love with the sound of a honky tonk band
Daddy looked me in the eye
Said, "Son, you're gonna throw your life away
You're just givin' mama reasons to pray"

I fell in love with a barmaid
I guess you live and learn
Oh, how I felt the whiskey burn
And all the while I was thinking
"This ain't how I was raised"
But I kept givin' mama reasons to pray

Mama always believed in me
She knew the kind of man that I could be
But every time I'd get on track
The devil made me stray
And I'd be givin' mama reasons to pray

I held my mama's dyin' hand
On a Tuesday afternoon
It was the coldest day that we ever had in June
She pulled me close and she whispered
The last thing I heard her say
Was "Son, stop givin' mama reasons to pray"

Mama always believed in me
She knew the kind of man that I could be
But every time I'd get on track
The devil made me stray
And I'd be givin' mama reasons to pray
Oh, I'm not givin' mama reasons to pray