“Let me tell you something… A man can come and go. But them babies? They only get one mother. So why you keep choosing everybody else… and leaving your own kids wondering when you gonna choose them?” [BEAT DROPS — HARD 808s] [VERSE 1] You always got a reason, always got something to say, “I’m trying to get my life together,” but you been saying that for days. One minute you around, next minute you gone, Kids sitting by the window like, “Mama, when she coming home?” You got time for him, but you ain’t got time for them. You can show up for a man, but can’t show up for your kids? Come on now… Tell me how that make sense. [AD-LIB: “It don’t!”] [AD-LIB: “Come on!”] They don’t need another excuse. They don’t need another lie. They need somebody standing there when they wake up and cry. [PRE-CHORUS] Why won’t you be a mother to your kids? Why won’t you show them how a mother should live? Teach ’em how to cook, teach ’em how to clean, teach ’em how to love themselves and know what respect means. [AD-LIB: “That’s your job!”] [CHORUS — HARD, EMOTIONAL] Why won’t you be their mother? Why won’t you stay? Why you keep choosing everybody else and pushing your babies away? They calling, “Mama, where you at?” “Mama, when you coming back?” You keep saying, “Soon…” but soon never comes. [AD-LIB: “They waiting!”] [AD-LIB: “They need you!”] Why won’t you be their mother? Why you keep running away? You brought them in this world, now you gotta be there. [VERSE 2 — STORYTELLING RAP] Look… I ain’t saying life ain’t hard. I ain’t saying you ain’t been through pain. But you can’t keep using your past to explain why you ain’t changed. Every time somebody asks, you got somebody else to blame. But them babies don’t care about excuses. They just wanna hear their mama say their name. Who teaching that little girl how to carry herself? Who telling her, “Baby, don’t let nobody treat you less?” Who showing her how to cook? How to clean? How to stand on her own? How to know her worth when she out here on her own? And that little boy need you too. He need to see what love really do. He need to know a mother can stay, not disappear every time life gets hard. [AD-LIB: “Think about that!”] [PRE-CHORUS] Why won’t you be a mother to your kids? Why won’t you give them what they should’ve had? They don’t need you perfect. They just need you present. They don’t need another promise that you ain’t gonna keep. [CHORUS] Why won’t you be their mother? Why won’t you stay? Why you keep choosing everybody else and pushing your babies away? They calling, “Mama, where you at?” “Mama, when you coming back?” You keep saying, “Soon…” but soon never comes. [AD-LIB: “How long?”] [AD-LIB: “How long they gotta wait?”] [BRIDGE — BEAT PULLS BACK] And the hardest part? That child still loves you. After everything… still loves you. Still looking for you. Still hoping you gonna walk through that door. But one day… They gonna stop asking. Not because they don’t love you. Because they finally realized you wasn’t coming. [808s SLAM BACK IN] [FINAL VERSE — RAW] So mama, listen… You still got time. If you really want it, you can make it right. Put that man to the side. Put them excuses down. Go find your children before they stop looking for you around. Don’t just say you love them. Show them. Don’t just say you’re changing. Change. Don’t tell them you’re coming. Come. Don’t promise them tomorrow. Give them today. [AD-LIB: “That’s all they ever wanted!”] [FINAL CHORUS — BIG] Why won’t you be their mother? Why won’t you stay? Them babies didn’t ask to be here. You made that choice that day. So be there when they need you. Be there when they cry. Be the mother they remember when they look back on their lives. Why won’t you be their mother? Why you keep walking away? [AD-LIBS] “Come on, mama!” “Wake up!” “They need you!” “Stop making excuses!” “Be there!” “Be their mother!” [OUTRO — SPOKEN] “Cause one day… them babies gonna grow up. And you ain’t gonna be able to go back and raise them. So while you still got time… be their mother.”
