LARRY HIRSHBERG

 

Color Yourself

Mama’s painted the baby red
From the tip of her toes to the top of her head
Covered with crimson to match her mad mood
She sits in the kitchen and watches her move

Now mother’s painted the baby blue
Evereything but her little white shoes
Colored to look like the sky and two clouds
Crawling above the linoleum ground

(chorus)
Everybody wants their baby to fit in
But mama’s idea should have stayed on the shelf
Baby, baby what will you do
When you have to learn to color yourself?

Painted green she’s out in the yard
Mama watches so she doesn’t go far
Baby smiles as a leaf shimmers past
Little green fingers wiggle like grass

Chorus

Now, maybe baby is just seventeen
Out on a date with the boy of her dreams
Imagine his eyes as she gives him a shove
On his way down she paints him with love

Chorus