[ mother ]
(What the hell is wrong with ya?
I send you to school
You won't do your homework
You won't clean up your room
I'm sick of cleanin up behind you
What the hell is wrong with ya?
I wish you'd get your ass outta here and get a job!)

[ Bobby Womack ]
Mother
Mother, mother
Why do you hurt me like you do?
I can't understand it, mother

[ VERSE 1 ]
Can't seem to get life straight, but I'm strivin
Fastin every day cause of money, but I'm survivin
I'm havin problems tryin to concentrate
Cause of this devil, this cold-blooded white man
Mama, I know that she don't hear me though
She said, "Pack yo shit, nigga, your broke ass gotta go"
And now I'm runnin after lost time
Tryin to clean up around the house, cause I'ma try and keep mine
They say us youth all defective
Careless and wreckless
They want our ass up out of Texas
And now I'm feelin somethin missin
Farrakhan said he care, and so I'm listenin
Tryin to decide who's right or wrong
I need to get myself together, cause I know I'm not gon' last long
A co-defendant age 23
Blamin the world for my problems, but never takin a look at me

[ Bobby Womack ]
You me going round in circles
Just like a seesaw goin up and down
(Mama said I'm goin in circles
But she don't know me, gee)
You got me going round in circles
All around and round
Like a seesaw going up and down

[ VERSE 2 ]
As a kid I used to ride in the backseat
Seen the Fruit in the street, she wouldn't even buy a paper
A little baby wasn't breast-fed
She stuck a cold-ass bottle in my mouth and laid me in the bed
Mama, I needed you to bond with
But you were busy fussin and fightin that fool we were livin with
Now that I'm grown you say I'm trippin out
Well, I'm trippin too, you made this monster, gotta feed him too
Jackin and bangin, my life's in a warzone
In the streets, cause you know mama wasn't at home
And daddy, I can't find him
I'm ashamed of him, walkin 12 paces behind him
He beat the shit out of my mommy dear
I had to raise on up outta there and left mommy live in fear
She asked me why I'm in the game, they can't see
She said I'm goin in circles, but you don't know me, gee

[ Bobby Womack ]
You me going round in circles
Round and round and round
And I can't seem to come down
You got me going in circles
Going up and down, all around

(Mama said I'm goin in circles, but she don't know me, gee)