Mama said that thirteen was too young to think my lips And too young to run with me and twice my years But when you're young and yearn to be a woman what does your mother know I couldn't understand her hangups and her fears A year went by and I got tired of mama's foolish advice At fourteen I was sure I knew it all It wasn't like it was at home out on the streets so long Me I lived outside the law Now I'm livin' in the cold grey world hear me cryin' in the night Missin' even mom and dad and a man to hold me tight I should've listened to my mama and seen the visdom in her eyes And the Tennessee women's prison wouldn't be my mama tonight If I ever get out of this nasty cell I'll never be back again Cause mama has sure got smarter every day since I've been in I gonna follow the straight and narrow if I can just get my parole And the Tennessee women's prison won't own my soul Cause I'm livin' in the cold grey world... And this Tennessee women's prison wouldn't be my mama tonight