Tell Mama

(Marcus Lewis Daniel, Wilbur Terrell, Clarence George Carter)

Alright!!!
Alright!!!
I'm ready, man!
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
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 he 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, babe.

Whoaa... rock & roll!

... baby,
Wasn't worth all the time that you spent.
And that same man that throwed you outdoors,
I just heard that he torn 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.

Tell your mama, babe!
Your mama, babe!
Your mama, babe!
Your mama, babe!
Hey 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 day, Lord.

And I'd figured
I'll tell you, when you go lonely, an' 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 lookin' 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 ain'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 weirdenesses happening to you, you don't know what they are
I'll tell ya what you need —

You need a sweet lovin' mama, babe,
Honey, sweet talkin' mama, babe.
You need a sweet lovin' mama, babe.
Honey, sweet talkin' mama, babe.

You need someone to listen to you,
Someone to want you,
Someone to hold you
Someone to need you
Someone to use you
Someone to want you
Someone to need you
Someone to hold you
Someone to want you
Someone to hold you

You need a mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, baby
Lordy, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama.
Mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, yeah!
Mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, yeah!
Mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, yeah!

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 I can do
Tell your mama, babe

Yeah your mama babe!
Whoa mama babe!
Whoa mama babe!
Whoa mama babe!
Whoa mama babe!
Whoa mama babe!
Whoa mama babe!
Whaa mama babe!

Yeah
An' I'll make everything alright, yeah!
Hey! Yeah!

Notes

aka Sweet Loving Mama

Discs

  1. 18 Essential songs (1995)
  2. 1970-08-12 Harvard Stadium (1970-08-12)
  3. 3CD Box Set (1993)
  4. Absolute Janis (1997)

    Janis Joplin!!

    Three, four.


    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.


    LP Columbia AS 1377 (promo)
    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 you'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!

    Alright!

  5. Cry Baby (The Ultimate Collection) (2009)
  6. Farewell Song (1967/70 [1982])
  7. First Stop (1970-06-28)
  8. Get It While You Can (1970-07-06)
  9. Get It While You Can (2LP) (1970-07-06)
  10. Live At the Festival Express 1970 (1970-06-28)
  11. Pearl (Legacy Edition) (2004)
  12. Port Chester Restoration Project #1 (1970-08-08)
  13. Port Chester, New York, 70-08-08 (1970-08-08)
  14. The Pearl Sessions (1970 [2012])