C                  Bb                       F              C 
I wish I'd known the man a little better that turned my mama on 
                    C                   G                         F 
He must have been a heck of a man cause mama was a lady don't you know 
 
C                                          F                  C   
Mama was no prude but she was proper never wore her dress too short 
           C                   G                   C   
She didn't care if you did but she'd never taken a drink  
C                                      F                C  
Grandma Kate did the best she could to see mama grew up right 
   C                    G                       F                     C  
So she'd be fittin' one day for courtin' and to wear some gentleman's ring 


[Refrão]
  C                  Bb                       F              C 
I wish I'd known the man a little better that turned my mama on 
       C                   G                  C 
He was always laughing and sang a right sweet song 
  C                  Bb                       F              C 
I wish I'd known the man a little better that turned my mama on 
                    C                   G                         F 
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 killin' good-looking' 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 
 
Chorus 
 
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 Desoto 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 she thought the sun must surely rise and set in me 
 
Chorus