DEAR MAMA

Dear mama
There are words I never found
And memories that still live inside
This one's for you

Four little lives beneath one ceiling
You hid your tears so we could keep on dreaming
The world kept turning, the bills kept coming
And somehow you kept going when your strength was running
There was no hand to catch you when you fell
No one could see the stories you would never tell

And I won't turn his absence into hate
We all inherit wounds we never chose to take
But you were there when the nights got long
Making broken days feel like we still belonged
You wore your worries underneath your smile
And made a little home out of a difficult life

I can still see that night in the rain
The poolside lights, the silence, the pain
Four little hearts that didn't understand
Watching their whole world in their mother's hands

Dear mama, don't you cry tonight
You gave us wings, you gave us life
Four little hearts beneath your wings
You gave us more than everything
Oh, mama, I wish you could see
The woman you were, the strength you gave me
And if heaven could send one thing my way
I'd give you the love you gave away

Oh, dear mama
Uh, uh, uh, dear mama
Uh, uh, uh, we are here because of you

I remember the mist falling out of the sky
You cleaning that pool while we stood inside
We were crying, you were trying to carry on
And I didn't know how much it took to be that strong
I wish I could go back and stand beside you
Not asking for answers, just saying I see you
Because the woman I watched through that rainy night
Was fighting battles just to keep our world alright

Three sisters and me, four different names
But every one of us carries a part of your flame
And when I see the people we've become
I see the miles you walked for everyone

And all those years, you never let us fall
Even when you had no strength at all
Now I understand what I couldn't see
Your greatest gift was giving us a family

Dear mama, don't you cry tonight
You gave us wings, you gave us life
Four little hearts beneath your wings
You gave us more than everything
Oh, mama, I wish you could see
The woman you were, the strength you gave me
And if heaven could send one thing my way
I'd give you the love you gave away

Uh, uh, uh, oh, dear mama
Uh, uh, uh, we are here because of you

Now I understand the silence in your eyes
The dreams you put away to keep our dreams alive
The things you never bought, the places you never went
The years you gave without knowing what they meant
And I don't need a perfect story to be proud
I know there were hard days, I know there were clouds
You were just a human trying to make it through
But somehow four young hearts found their way because of you
And now I have a child, and one thing I know
I'll carry what you taught me everywhere I go
I hope my child will never have to wonder why
A mother's love can make a broken world feel right

If time could speak, it would tell you the truth
How much of my life was built by you
Those rainy nights were never just rain
They were a mother's love standing through the pain
You may remember everything you couldn't give
But I remember everything you did
And if I have one prayer before my days are through
It's that life gives back some of what I owe to you

Dear mama, don't you cry tonight!
You gave us wings, you gave us life!
Four little hearts beneath your wings
You gave us more than everything!
Oh, mama, I wish you could see
The woman you were, the strength you gave me!
And if heaven could send one thing my way
I'd give you the love you gave away!

Dear mama!
Uh, uh, uh, oh, dear mama
Uh, uh, uh

Four hearts, one story
And it all began with you
Dear mama
We are here because of you

I was too young to understand
But I'm old enough to say
You were never just holding us together
You were holding our whole world

I love you, mama