[Intro — Male Vocal, Spoken, Whispered, Intimate] Mama… There are some things a son only understands when he's old enough to see his mother was learning how to be strong too. I see you now. Not just as my mother… but as a woman who gave everything she had so I could become everything I could be. Mm… [Verse 1 Male Vocal, Deep Warm Rap, Emotional] I remember your hands before I remember your face, Small enough to fit inside them, safe enough to call it a place. You'd tuck the whole world underneath my little bed, then sit beside my nightmares till the fear left my head. There were mornings you were tired but you never let it show, put a smile across your sorrow so I'd never have to know. You could turn an empty cupboard into something we could share, make a little feel like plenty just by telling me you cared. I didn't see the cracks in the ceiling of your dreams, didn't know how many times you cried where I couldn't see. I thought mothers didn't break, I thought angels never bled I was only just a boy, I didn't know what you had sacrificed instead. You gave me your tomorrow when you needed it today, put your own heart in the fire just to keep mine from the flames. And every road I've travelled, every battle I have won, there's a piece of you inside me I am forever your son. [Pre-Chorus Female Vocal, Clear Soulful, Tender] And I know the world will change you, I know you'll have to go… But wherever life may take you, there's something you should know. [Chorus Female Vocal, Soulful, Emotional, Soaring] You will always be the little boy I held when the night was much too loud. You will always have a place inside my heart when the world won't let you down. And if you lose your way, if you forget your name, if the weight becomes too much to carry on come back to me, come back home… You'll always be a mother's son. Oh-oh… A mother's son. [Verse 2 Male Vocal, Deep Warm Rap, More Vulnerable] Now I understand the silence in the room after you cried, the way you turned away and said, “I'm fine,” with tears behind your eyes. I understand the little things I never thought to thank you for the coat you gave me in the winter, the shoes you couldn't afford. The way you waited by the window when I stayed out too late, the way you said a prayer instead of letting fear become your faith. And I'm sorry for the years I thought I knew more than you, for the doors I slammed behind me, for the things I put you through. I was trying to become a man and didn't understand that the strongest man I could become was the one you always saw in me. Yeah… I carried your voice through every city I have known, heard you in the darkest hour when I thought I was alone. Every time I nearly quit, something pulled me back again maybe it was your love refusing to let me end. So if you ever wonder what became of your little boy, he's still chasing something beautiful, still trying to make you proud. And if I've got a little light inside this weary soul, Mama, you were there before I ever learned to glow. [Chorus Female Vocal, Soulful, Fuller, Emotional] You will always be the little boy I held, when the night was much too loud. You will always have a place inside my heart, when the world won't let you down. And if you lose your way, if you forget your name, if the weight becomes too much to carry on come back to me, come back home… You'll always be a mother's son. Yeah… You'll always be a mother's son. [Bridge Female Vocal, Soulful, Fragile, Gradually Building] And when my hands grow older, when my footsteps fade, don't measure all my love by the words I never said. I was there in every heartbeat, every breath beneath the sun. Before you were a man, my child, you were my little one. So don't be afraid of falling, don't be ashamed to cry. A mother's love is not a chain it is a light that follows you through life. Oh-oh… If tomorrow takes me somewhere you can never reach, listen for me in the quiet I'll be closer than you think. [Break Male Vocal, Spoken, Deep, Barely Above a Whisper] Mama… I spent my whole life trying to become somebody. But the older I get, the more I realize… You never needed me to become somebody. You just wanted me to become myself. And every time I look in the mirror, I see the man you prayed for standing where that little boy used to be. Mm. I hope I made it worth it. [Final Chorus Female Vocal, Powerful Soulful Lead] You'll always be the little boy I held, even when you're standing tall. You'll always have a home inside my heart, even when you've lost it all. And if the years should steal the color from my eyes, if one day you can't hear my voice at all Remember this: You were my greatest love, my answered prayer, my reason to believe that something beautiful could come from anything. So go where your heart leads, be everything you're meant to become… But wherever you go, whatever you've done, however far the road may run You will
