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Joan Baez - Mama Tried [HD]

3,798 views · Published 15 December 2017 · 2:30 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: Gary Larson · 2017 · People & Blogs

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Joan Baez (with Jeffrey Shurtleff) sings the Merle Haggard song 'Mama Tried'. This song is one of the bonus tracks on the 2005 CD reissue of her 1970 Vanguard album 'One Day At A Time'. The song lyrics are in the video and listed below along with some notes about the song from Wikipedia.

[CD/Lyrics/16-Images]


Mama Tried

Singer - Joan Baez

First thing I remember knowing 
Was a lonesome whistle blowing
And a young'un's dream of growing up to ride  
On a freight train leaving town
 
Never knowing where I'm bound
No one could change my mind but Mama tried 
One and only rebel child
From a family meek and mild
 
My Mama seemed to know what lay in store 
Spite of all my Sunday learning 
To the bad I kept returning 
Till Mama couldn't hold me anymore 

 I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole 
No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried
Mama tried to raise me better but her pleadings I denied 
That leaves only me to blame 'cause Mama tried
 
Dear old Daddy, rest his soul, left my Mom a heavy load 
She tried so very hard to fill his shoes 
Working hours without rest, wanted me to have the best 
She tried to raise me right but I refused 

I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole 
No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried 
Mama tried to raise me better but her pleadings I denied 
That leaves only me to blame 'cause Mama tried

Songwriter: Merle Haggard

© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

[Lyrics from LyricFind]

Wikipedia states:

"Mama Tried" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard. It was released in July 1968 as the first single and title track from the album Mama Tried. The song became one of the cornerstone songs of his career. It won the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999, and was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry due to its "cultural, historic, or artistic significance" on March 23, 2016, just 14 days before Haggard's death.

In "Mama Tried", Haggard focuses on the pain and suffering he caused his own mother by being incarcerated in 1957 in San Quentin. However, the song is not literally autobiographical, as many country music historians point out. While writer Bill Malone's assessment of the song is in agreement with Ace Collins' (referring to his own experiences that saw him sentenced to prison), Malone points out that Haggard never was sentenced to "life without parole," as the protagonist in the song was. Still the song's lyrics, and the protagonist's experiences, are heavily influenced by Haggard's early life. Additionally, Allmusic writer Bill Janovitz notes Haggard's lyrics are sympathetic to his mother, who tried everything in her power to rehabilitate her rebel son. But, as the lyrics point out, "In spite of all my Sunday learning, towards the bad I kept on turning/'Til mama couldn't hold me anymore"; thus the observation, "I turned 21 in prison doin' life without parole."

Joan Baez covered the song in 1969, along with another Haggard song, "Sing Me Back Home", though her versions of both songs went unreleased until they were included on her 1993 boxed set Rare, Live & Classic; they later appeared on the 2005 reissue of her 1970 album (I Live) One Day at a Time.

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