I'M LIVIN' IN SHAME

(Berry Gordy / Frank Wilson / Henry Cosby / Pam Sawyer / R. Dean Taylor)


Diana Ross & The Andantes** - 1969




Mama was cookin' bread

She wore a dirty raggedy scarf around her head

Always had her stockin's low

Rolled to her feet, she just didn't know


She wore a sloppy dress

Oh, no matter how she tried, she always looked a mess

Out of the pot she ate

Never used a fork or a dinner plate


I was always so afraid

That my uptown friends would see her

Afraid one day when I was grown

That I would be her


In college town away from home

A new identity I found

Said I was born elite

With maids and servants at my feet


I must have been insane

I lied and said Mama died on a weekend trip to Spain

She never got out of the house

Never even boarded a train


Married a guy, was livin' high

I didn't want him to know her

She had a grandson two years old

That I'd never even showed her


I'm livin' in shame

Mama, I miss you

I know you're not to blame

Mama, I miss you


(Instrumental Break)


Came a telegram

Mama passed away while making home made jam

Before she died

She cried to see me by her side


She always did her best

Oh, cook and cleanin', always in the same old dress

Workin' hard, down on her knees

Always tryin' to please


Mama, Mama, Mama can you hear me

Mama, Mama, Mama can you hear me


I'm livin' in shame

Mama, I miss you

I know you've done your best

Mama, I miss you


Won't you forgive me, Mama

For all the wrong I've done

I know you've done your best

I know you've done the very best you could

But I never understood

Working hard, down on your knees

Mama, you were always, always tryin' to please

You were so good to me ........... FADE 



**Although this recording is credited to Diana Ross & The Supremes, Ross 

was actually backed by session singers Marlene Barrow, Jackie Hicks and 

Louvain Demps, collectively known as The Andantes.




(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - June 2014)