Mama Lost Her Smile

I ain't got much to go on

Just a box of photographs

And every picture tells a story

But every story has two halves

I keep 'em separate

In before-and-after piles

Somewhere in the middle

Is where mama lost her smile

Somewhere in the summer

Back in 1982

Daddy took a job in town

And we all had to move

I feel like there's one missing

I've felt it for a while

One that's gonna tell me

How mama lost her smile

But you don't take pictures

Of the bad times

We only wanna remember

All the sunshine

We don't live in pictures

This is real life

And they're about as different

As black and white

I don't know why it matters

I just know it does

It's not like it'll change things

To find out what it was

She would never tell us

That just ain't her style

But I wish I knew the reason why

Mama lost her smile

But you don't take pictures

Of the bad times

We only wanna remember

All the sunshine

We don't live in pictures

This is real life

And they're about as different

As black and white

We're all a little older

And we're all a little worn

We're all a little faded

And we're all a little torn

But you don't take pictures

Of the bad times

We only wanna remember

All the sunshine

We don't live in pictures

This is real life

And they're about as different

As black and white

I ain't got much to go on

Just a box of photographs

Every picture tells a story

And every story has two halves