I wish I'd known the man a little better that turned my mama on

He must have been a heck of a man cause mama was a lady don't you know

Mama was no prude but she was proper never wore her dress too short

She didn't care if you did but she'd never taken a drink 

Grandma Kate did the best she could to see mama grew up right

So she'd be fittin' one day for courtin' and to wear some gentleman's ring

I wish I'd known the man a little better that turned my mama on

People was always laughing and sang a right sweet song

I wish I'd known the man a little better that turned my mama on

He must have been a heck of a man cause mama was a lady don't you know



I hear he came to town one day in a rusty old '49 Ford

Sellin' ladies shoes and assorted greeting cards

He was killer goodlookin' and easy to like and turnin' all the ladies heads

But he saw mama first and Lord knows how some of them travelin' men are

I wish I'd known the man...



Mama seemed to forget the things that grandma Kate had always told her

She ran away one night with that traveling man

They bought gas at Reba's Truck Stop and drove to Deseto County

But he brought her home with a ring upon her hand

Mama's told me how the fever took him when I was barely five

But I remember him pitchin' me up and catchin' me

And I love to sit and listen to her tell me about my daddy

She says he thought the sun would surely rise and set in me

I wish I'd known the man...