Lyrics

CIGARETTE SMOKE

She got a cigarette at sixteen from a friend
She tried her best but she never put them down again
I was her youngest, by the time I came along
Momma sounded like Louis Armstrong

She never knew it but sometimes I'd count
When she'd inhale to see when the smoke came out
Mississippi one, Mississippi two, Mississippi ten
Sometimes it never came back again

I sang beside her in that Baptist pew
Her voice was like gravel but right in tune
Those songs are deep in my soul
Drifting, drifting
Through my mind like cigarette smoke

Single Momma, three girls to raise
Pushed and shoved, working hard all day
She never gave up, she never gave in, she never turned away
And she could laugh 'til the tears ran down her face

I sang beside her in that Baptist pew
Her voice was like gravel but right in tune
Those songs are deep in my soul
Drifting, drifting
Through my mind like cigarette smoke

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise him all creatures here below

When she died I found she'd saved so many things
My college papers, my Girl Scout ring
And a letter I'd written her from far away
Thanking her for teaching me to pray

I hear her singing in that Baptist pew
Her voice, it's like gravel but right in tune
Those songs are deep in my soul
Drifting, drifting
Through my mind like cigarette smoke
Through my mind like cigarette smoke