Lyrics When You're Good to Mama - Mary McCarty

MASTER OF CEREMONIES:
And now, ladies and gentlemen – the Keeper of the Keys, the Countess of the Clink, the Mistress of Murderer's row – Matron Mama Morton!

Ask any of the chickies in my pen,
They'll tell you I'm the biggest mother
Hen.
I love them all and all of them love me,
Because the system works
The system called reciprocity ...

Got a little motto
Always sees me through
When you're good to Mama
Mama's good to you

There's a lot of favors
I'm prepared to do.
You do one for Mama
She'll do one for you.

They say that life is tit-for-tat
And that's the way I live.
So, I deserve a lot of tat
For what I've got to give.

Don't you know that this hand
Washes that one too?
When you're good to Mama,
Mama's good to you!

If you want my gravy,
Pepper my ragout.
Spice it up for Mama,
She'll get hot for you.

When they pass that basket,
Folks contribute to
You put in for Mama,
She'll put out for you.

The folks atop the ladder
Are the ones the world adores.
So boost me up my ladder, kid,
And I'll boost you up yours.

Let's all stroke together
Like the Princeton crew.
When you're strokin' Mama
Mama's strokin' you.

So what's the one conclusion
I can bring this number to?

When you're good to Mama
Mama's good to you!