Janis Joplin – Tell Mama lyrics

[Intro]
Alright, alright
I'm ready, man
Whoa, yeah

[Verse 1]
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

[Pre-Chorus]
I want you to
Well, tell mama
All about it
Well, tell mama
What you need
Tell your mama, babe
What you want
Tell your mama, babe

[Chorus 1]
What you need
What you want
What you need
What you want
Whoa! And I'll make everything alright

[Chorus 2]
That girl you didn't have no sense, babe
Wasn't worth all the time that you spent
That same man he threw you outdoors
I just heard that he quartered your clothes, hey

[Pre-Chorus]

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
Whoa! Rock and roll

[Chorus 2]

[Pre-Chorus]

[Chorus]

[Verse 2]
Tell your mama, babe [X8]
Every time you get lonely, lonely, lonely [x4]
Every time you got to cry, cry
[X3]
Every day, Lord

And I'd figured
I'll tell you, when you go lonely, and I figure everybody does, right?
Because as a matter of fact everybody does
I figure if you're a woman
Man, if you're really a woman
You already know what you need, man
You already know what you're looking for
Man, I found out out at fourteen years old
And I been looking for it every since, too, man

But, if you happen to be a young cat
You know like about seventeen years old, just about
If you happen to be a young cat and you haven't figured it out yet
I'll tell you what you need, baby
When you got those strange thoughts in your head
You got those strange little weirdness happening to you
You don't know what they are
I'll tell ya what you need

You need a sweet loving mama, babe
Honey, sweet talking mama, babe
You need a sweet loving mama, babe
Honey, sweet talking mama, babe

You need someone to listen to you

[x2]

You need a mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, baby [X5]

[Pre-Chorus]

[Bridge]
Yeah, your mama babe! [X8]

[Outro]
Yeah
And I'll make everything alright, yeah!
Hey, yeah!