They did their best
To pull my arms
Through the sleeves
Of my black wool dress
In this ungodly heat

They led me down the hall
We passed your room on the way
I found the place you'd taken your crayons to the wall
And I could still hear me saying

I am your mother
Why won't you listen to me?
Be like your brother
Come here and sit by me

I am bombarded by smiles
Launched by faces I don't know
And they hover for a while
And I'm grateful when they go

They'll drift back to their lives
They'll change out of these clothes
Husbands will cling to their wives
In the night
And they'll hold their children
Too close

And pray that
They're not the mother
To be the last one to leave
Let it be any other, anyone but me
'Cause I am that mother
Why won't you listen to me?
Be like your brother
Come here and comfort me
'Cause am your mother
And it should have been me
It should have been me
It should have been me