E|--------------------------------------0-x--------------------------------------------|
B|-1h3-3-3-3--1h3-3-3---------------------3---1h3-3-3-3--1h3-3-3--------------------3--|
G|-----------------------0--0-0-0-4p2------------------------------0--0-0-0-4p2--------|
D|--------------------3------------------------------------------3---------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

[Intro Chords]

D    D    G  F* D

[Verse 1]
D
'Bout ten years old, hide and seek
  G               D
I found me in the closet

Ready or not I stumbled on
    G              D
And opened up that box of

Yearbooks, letters, black and whites
  G              D
A hundred, maybe more

Next thing I know my brothers and me
        G                D
Got 'em scattered on the floor (Yeah)

D    D    G  F* D

[Verse 2]
D
There was one of her, flippin' the bird
G            D
Sittin' on a Harley

And a few with some hairy hippie dude
      G                D
Turns out his name was Charlie

Her hair, her clothes, her drinkin' smokin'
G           D
Had us boys confused
                                   G        D
I'll never forget the day us nosey kids got introduced

[Chorus]
G                      D
To Mama, 'fore she was Mama
            A          D
In a string bikini, in Tijuana
G                      D
Won't admit she smoked marijuana
          G    A              D
But I saw Mama, 'fore she was Mama

D    D    G  F* D

[Verse 3]
D
We put that box right where it was
    G            D
And never said a word

But growin' up got hard just tryin'
G              D
Not to picture her

In anything but aprons, dresses
G             D
Mini-vans and church

Oh and Daddy would have whooped our butts
    G               D
For diggin' up that dirt

[Chorus]
G                      D
On Mama, 'fore she was Mama
            A          D
In a string bikini, in Tijuana
G                      D
Won't admit she smoked marijuana
          G    A              G (additional riff) D      A
But I saw Mama, 'fore she was Mama

D    D    G  F* D

[Verse 4]
D
We laugh and hang it over her head
G               D
Right above her halo

Her face turns red when we bring up
     G               D
That tie-dyed Winnebago

She runs and hides and still denies
     G             D
That hip high rose tattoo

She burned that box of forget-me-nots
     G                D
When she found out we knew

[Chorus]
G                         D
'Bout Mama, 'fore she was Mama
            A          D
In a string bikini, in Tijuana
G                      D
Won't admit she smoked marijuana
             G    A              D
But that was Mama, 'fore she was Mama
                G    Asus2         D
And there's that one down in the Bahamas
             G    A              D
But that was Mama, 'fore she was Mama

D    D    G  F* D  x2


************************************

| x  Dead note
| h  Hammer-on
| p  Pull-off