I Don't Mean to Be Mean

I Don't Mean to Be Mean
Bluegrass song for female vocal
Words and music by Victor E. Mowery
October, 2014

Your letter arrived with postage due
And then you called collect,

To beg of me to marry you.
Hey, what did you expect?

I don't mean to be mean,
But just look at yourself.
You're bouncing checks.
You've wrecked your health.
Tuck in your shirt
And wash your jeans.
Look, I'm just sayin'.
I don't mean to be mean.

Your car's a mess, just like your life,
But you still wonder why

The only girl who'd be your wife
Just dee-vorced her sixth guy.

I don't mean to be mean,
But just figure it out.
You look like Jabba
And smell like trout.
Go brush your teeth.
And floss between.
Hey, I'm just sayin'.
I don't mean to be mean.

Your disability check don't look so great
When you're paying on your pawn.

Or your rent-to-own, ripped leather sofa set
When it's kicked out on your lawn.

I don't mean to be mean.
But just pay your way.
Why's it so hard
To get to work each day?
Pay real bills first
With hard-earned green.
Man, I'm just sayin'.
I don't mean to be mean.

I told your mom to stop bailing you
Out of that jail downtown.

She's the reason you're like you are.
She's raised Bozo the Clown.

I don't mean to be mean.
But it's time to get real.
You have no future.
You never will.
You think your life
Is a drama scene.
Look, I'm just sayin'.
I don't mean to be mean.

Hey, it's just worth sayin'.
Don't mean to be mean.

VM