Mama Taught Me How to Bake

Intro

Kitchen light on, radio low (oh-oh)

Flour on her apron, slow and steady hands

The clock on the wall ticked to the rhythm we grew up to

Small-town Sunday, cassette tapes and brother bands

Verse

She taught me how to measure love with sugar and care

How to fold the dough so it never gives in to air

She said strength ain't a shout, it's the choices you save

The muscle of patience, the jaw when you behave

She'd hum that old song while she wiped the table clean

Said, "Hold your temper like a secret, keep your heart unseen"

Not about being tougher than the world can be

But knowing when to walk away and when to let it be

Pre-chorus

They were young and in uniform, he swore to stand and serve

Camp Lejeune nights, a baby girl, a woman who learned to swerve

Back to our county line five years later, another set of shoes

A little house, a church on Main, a life built on the truth

Fifty years and counting, hands still find a way to touch

He was the quiet kind of hero, she made that hero hush

Chorus

Mama taught me how to bake and how to be brave (how to be brave)

Mama showed me strength was what you held back, not what you gave (uh-huh)

She loved him like the seasons turn and every morning came right back (yeah)

Mama taught me family was a welcome with no tack (no tack)

Mama taught me how to bake and how to be brave (oh-oh)

Mama taught me how to love without a single ounce of shame (yeah)

Verse

She fixed my skinned knees, fixed my doubts with a bowl of stew

Told me chase the sky and don't let Sunday rules define you

No sermon pressed on my shoulders, no guilt to make me small

Just an open door and a promise: "Call us, we'll catch your fall"

They let me roam the county roads, to learn my own way home

Never a leash on my dreams, just a porch light when I roam

They showed me trust is quiet, it's the room to make your choice

To hear your own voice, and know they'll still rejoice

Bridge

Hand in hand at the county fair, his medals in a drawer

She's got flour on her fingers and his laugh at the backdoor

He taught me how to stand tall, she taught me how to bend

Together they taught me what forever looks like in the end

Greatest man that ever lived, with eyes that still say "stay"

She'd flash a smile and whisper, "We found our way" (we found our way)

Chorus

Mama taught me how to bake and how to be brave (how to be brave)

Mama showed me strength was what you held back, not what you gave (uh-huh)

She loved him like the seasons turn and every morning came right back (yeah)

Mama taught me family was a welcome with no tack (come on)

Mama taught me how to bake and how to be brave (oh-oh)

Mama taught me how to love without a single ounce of shame (yeah)

Outro

Oh, I learned to be kind, learned to be brave (la-la)

I learned to keep the light on, and always leave the door on the latch (oh)

I learned from mama, and from him, how to come back home