I hit the road out of high school
With a guitar in my hand
I fell in love with the sound of a honky tonk band
Daddy looked me in the eye
Said, "Son, you're gonna throw your life away
You're just givin' mama reasons to pray"

I fell in love with a barmaid
I guess you live and learn
Oh, how I felt the whiskey burn
And all the while I was thinkin'
"This ain't how I was raised"
But I kept givin' mama reasons to pray

Mama always believed in me
She knew the kind of man that I could be
But every time I'd get on track
The devil made me stray
And I'd be givin' mama reasons to pray

I held my mama's dyin' hand
On a Tuesday afternoon
It was the coldest day that we ever had in June
She pulled me close and she whispered
The last thing I heard her say
Was "Son, stop givin' mama reasons to pray"

Mama always believed in me
She knew the kind of man that I could be
But every time I'd get on track
The devil made me stray
And I'd be givin' mama reasons to pray
Oh, I'm not givin' mama reasons to pray

Copyright: Spirit Music Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc., WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
Writer(s): Christopher Alvin Stapleton, Shawn Camp