(Ry Cooder) Hey, mama, don't you treat your daughter mean Hey, mama, don't you treat your daughter mean 'Cause you treat her so mean and she's only sweet sixteen It was late last Friday evening, when everything was still I heard somebody calling my name outside my window sill I got up and I looked outside strainin' my eyes to see And my heart went wild when I realized just who was calling me I hollered Hey, mama, don't you treat your daughter mean Hey, mama, don't you treat your daughter mean 'Cause you treat her so mean and she's only sweet sixteen Now, her eyes were blazing up at me Her hair was black as night And her naked skin shone like gold Out in the pale moonlight She took my hand and she pulled me down Where the grass had grown up tall The she moved her body all around Just like a cannon ball Hey, mama, don't you treat your daughter mean Hey, mama, don't you treat your daughter mean 'Cause you treat her so mean and she's only sweet sixteen Yonder comes your mama, girl, 'cross the field Runnin' and a-shakin' like an automobile Daddy's got a shotgun in his hand They just don't understand The first time I seen that sweet girl She was runnin' home from Sunday school And the next time I seen that sweet little girl Was when she broke her mama's rule But the last time I seen that sweet little girl She was filled with a strange desire Rollin' and tumblin' out on the cold wet ground Her skin burnin' up just like a cane fire She called my name a thousand ways The tears came streaming down her face But just when I was 'bout to blow my stack Her daddy came a-creepin' and a-crawlin' up behind And he shot me in the back