I don't know how I'm gonna tell younI can't play with you no more,nI don't know how I'm gonna do what mama told me,nMy friend, the boy next door.nnI can't believe what people sayingnYou're gonna let your hair hang down,nI'm satisfied to sit here working all day long,nYou're in the darker side of town.nnAnd when I'm out I see you walking,nWhy don't your eyes see me,nCould it be you've found another game to play,nWhat did mama say to me.nnthat's the way,nOh, that's the way it ought to be,nYeah, yeah, mama saynThat's the way it ought to stay.nnAnd yesterday I saw you standing by the river,nAnd weren't those tears that filled your eyes,nAnd all the fish that lay in dirty water dying,nHad they got you hypnotized?nnAnd yesterday I saw you kissing tiny flowers,nBut all that lives is born to die.nAnd so I say to you that nothing really matters,nAnd all you do is stand and cry.nnI don't know what to say about it,nWhen all you ears have turned away,nBut now's the time to look and look again at what you see,nIs that the way it ought to stay?nThat's the waynThat's the way it ought to benOh don't you know nownMama said.. that's the way it's gonna stay, yeah