Tell Mama Songtext
von Janis Joplin

Yeah!
Yeah!
Whoaa... yeah!

You thought you had found yourself a good girl
One who would love you and give you the world
Then you find, babe, that you′ve been misused
Come to me, honey, I'll do what you choose

I want you to
Well, tell mama
Tell all about it
Well, tell mama
What you need
Tell your mama, babe
What you want
Tell your mama, babe


What you need
What you want
What you need
What you want
Whoa! an′ I'll make everything alright

That girl you didn't have no sense, babe
Wasn′t worth all the time that you spent
That same man throwed you outdoors
I just heard that he quartered your clothes, hey!

Well, tell mama
All about it
Tell mama
What you need
Tell your mama, babe
What you want
Tell your mama, babe

What you need
What you want
What you need
What you want
Whoaaa! an′ I'll make everything alright, daddy, I swear!

Hey!


That girl you had didn′t have no sense, dear
Wasn't worth all the time that you spent
And that same man that throwed you outdoors
I just heard that he stole all your clothes, hey

Well, tell mama
All about it
Tell mama
What you need
Tell your mama, babe
What you want
Tell your mama, babe

What you need
What you want
What you need
What you want
Anything I can do
Anything I can do for you, baby

Tell your mama, babe!
Tell your mama, babe!
Tell your mama, babe!
Tell your mama, babe!
Tell your mama, babe!
Tell your mama, babe!

Hey!

Every time you get lonely, lonely, lonely
Every time you get lonely sometime
Every time you get lonely, lonely, lonely
Every time you get lonely sometime

Every time you got to cry, cry
Every time you gotta cry
Every time you got to cry, cry, cry
Every time you gotta cry

Well, I′ll tell you, dear
If you're a woman
I can only assume
That you already know what ùou′re looking for, baby

If you ever, if you were lookin', if you were lonely
If you were lookin', or lonely
I know what you′re lookin′ for
And I figured it out at fourteen years old
And I been lookin' for it every since, too, man

However, if you happen to be a very young man
(Preferably a young man)
I′ll tell you what you need, man
When you wake up an' it doesn′t feel right, man
Your head don't feel right, nothin′ feels right
I'll tell ya what you need?

You need a sweet lovin' mama, babe
Sweet talkin′ mama, baby
You need a sweet lovin′ mama, babe

You need someone to listen to you
Someone to talk to you
Someone to hear you
Someone to want you
Someone to need you
Someone to use you
Someone to hold you

Want you, talk, listen, hold ya, want you, need you
Hold you, need you, want you, need you, hold you
Won't you need me mama, mama, mama, mama baby
Hey now, mama, mama, mama, mama, baby
Lord, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, baby
Hey, mama, mama, mama, mama, babe

Tell mama all about it
Tell mama all about it
What you need, what you want
What you need, what you want
Anything I can do
Anything, baby, I can do for you
Tell your mama, babe

Whoa mama babe!
Whoa mama babe!
Whoa mama babe!
Whoa mama babe!
Whoa mama babe!
Whoa mama babe!
Whoa mama babe!
Whaa mama babe!
Whaa mama babe!
Whaa mama babe!
Whaa mama babe!

Yeah

An′ I'll make everything alright, yeah!

Hey!