Mama From the Train

Words & Music by Irving Gordon
Recorded by Patti Page, 1956 (#11)


  A7  D             D+       G      Em7
Throw mama from the train a kiss, a kiss;

     G/B           A7      A7+5    D    A7
Wave mama from the train a good - bye.

      Bm            Bm7/E   Edim    Em
Throw mama from the train a kiss a kiss,

Cdim  A7   G   G/F# Em7  A7  Edim   D
And  don't cry, my  ba - by, don't cry.


A7     D6   D9   A7   D6   D9 Cdim     Em7         Edim  A7
How I miss that sweet la - dy with her old - coun - try touch,

Em7      A7        Em7 A7      Em7     D6    DM7   D6         D9
Miss her quaint broken English called Penn - syl - van - ia Dutch;

A7     D9    D  A7   D7  D7/9 A7  G6    G+7  G6   Em7
I can still see her there at  the sta - tion that day,

Edim    G  G/F# Edim D6   D9 Cdim     G    G/F#   A7   D
Calling out to  her  ba - by  as the train pulled a - way.


  A7  D             D+       G      Em7
Throw mama from the train a kiss, a kiss,

     G/B           A7         A7+5  D    A7
Dry mama all your tears, won't you try?

      Bm            Bm7/E   Edim    Em
Throw mama from the train a kiss, a kiss,

Cdim A7  G   G/F# Em7 A7 Edim  D
And  eat ma - ma   up all her pie.


A7        D6   D9   A7   D6   D9  Cdim     Em7  Edim  A7
Can't believe that she's gone now, it's a lonely old town,

Em7    A7       Em7 A7    Em7  D6  DM7   D6       D9
Yet I know that her heavenly  love keeps looking down;

A7            D9   D  A7 D7   D7/9 A7 G6 G+7    G6   Em7
'Cause when - ev - er I  hap - pen to be pass - ing through,

Edim     G   G/F# Edim  D6    D9  Cdim  G    G/F#  A7   D      A7
I could swear she  was there with the warmth  I   once knew.  And I


  A7  D             D+       G      Em7
Throw mama from the train a kiss, a kiss;

     G/B           A7      A7+5    D    A7
Wave mama from the train a good - bye.

      Bm            Bm7/E   Edim    Em
Throw mama from the train a kiss a kiss

Cdim A7   G   G/F# Em7   A7 Edim  D
And she throws one back from up  high.


The following information appears with the preceeding lyrics at the original www.lyricsworld.com site (see Links page):

According to legend, songwriter Irving Gordon based the unusual wording of this song on the speech patterns of the Amish in Pennsylvania. Years later, Patti later admitted the title's double-meaning never occurred to her while she was recording it. This title later inspired a hit 1987 comedy starring Danny De Vito and Billy Crystal, "Throw Momma from the Train."

Pennsylvania "Dutch" is truly of German origin, arising from the corruption of the word "Deutschland" to "Dutchland." It varies from standard English in that the word order is markedly different. Other "Pennsylvania Dutch" expressions include "Look the window out and see who the gate comes in" and "Vee are too soon oldt und too late schmart." The same sort of inverted word order in speech was adopted by Yoda in the the Star Wars movie series.

This chart appears here in token repayment for many favors done by lyrics guru and long-time friend Ron Hontz.



 
The lyric and guitar chord transcriptions on this site are the work of The Guitarguy and are intended for private study, research, or educational purposes only. Individual transcriptions are inspired by and and based upon the recorded versions cited, but are not necessarily exact replications of those recorded versions.