The Memory of a Wife

[Intro]
Baby
And how have you been?
Hey mama, I'm havin' good-
Like hell
You ain't been doin' so hot, I heard about you
Your thing been just as ragged as a bowl of sauerkraut
And that new woman you got done lost her job
She on welfare
You ain't hittin' your hustle no more
Why don't you be honest and tell me like it really is?
But that's alright, I know anyhow

[Verse 1]
You left me for your new love
Now if she's been all you expected
Tell me why, when I called you last night
I found your phone disconnected, na, na

[Pre-Chorus]
Is she finding out it all ain't peaches and cream?
I found out early in life
You can movе the man from his household
But you won't removе the memory of his wife
Ow

[Chorus]
You see, the girl was in love with love
Instead of bein' in love with you
It wasn't fair, you should've told her
About all the changes you'd put her through

[Refrain]
Now did you tell her about your [?] and your funky drawls?
Did you tell her that you snore in your sleep?
Did you tell her how well you like my cooking?
How many ridiculous foods you refuse to eat
I know you didn't tell her about our lovemakin'
Or you'd have to tell her that she can't compete
'Cause she'd have to be twice the woman I am
And still the girl couldn't win
'Cause I was a wife and a half
And that's three times any girlfriend

[Pre-Chorus]
Is she finding out it all ain't peaches and cream?
She'll have to compete with me
The rest of her [?] life
'Cause the job I did was a job well done
And she won't remove the memory of his life?
No!

[Interlude]
You can move the wife, but the memory lingers on
And you can't really win
You can have him bodily, but unless you got his mind, you haven't accomplished too much anyway
The first reason I say you can't win is
Suppose his wife was no good, I mean really took the man through a bunch of changes
Then he's gonna think you're the same way
Because he's adjusted to the idea and would like to think that all women are alike
Now if she was one of those terrific wives, and he was the one responsible
Then you gotta deal with a double problem, the guilt feelings
And the fact that he's gonna compare your every move with hers
"My wife didn't cook like that"
And if you accidentally do some of them good things she did
You're really in trouble
'Cause you see, he might call her name one night y'all makin' love, hehehe
He's comparin', whether he tells you about it or not
Now the second reason I say you can't win is because of the wife herself
Ain't no woman in her right mind gonna sit back and just let another woman come in and take her man
If he's really worth having
She might know something we don't
And she will find out
That crap about "the wife is the last to know" is a bunch of happy horse manure, she's the first to find out
'Cause you see, when the stock in her love market
Drops from a six-day week to a one-day maybe, she doesn't need Dow Jones, Mary Jones or any other Jones to tell her it's time to straighten it out
So girls, if you're gonna try, do it right

[Pre-Chorus]
And the job you do, let it be well done
When you put it on him, let it be A1
'Cause I've found out early in life
That you can't remove the memory of a wife

[Outro]
Keep on tryin', keep on doin'
Keep on tryin', girls, don't give up on him
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, yeah