That's The Way
PAGE Jimmy & PLANT Robert Lyrics

I don't know how I'm gonna tell you
I am uncertain about how to inform you

I can't play with you no more
I can no longer engage in any activities with you

I don't know how I'm gonna do what mama told me
I am unsure of how to fulfill my mother's instructions

My friend, the boy next door
My pal, who resides in the adjacent house

I can't believe what people saying
I find it hard to accept people's words

Gonna let your hair hang down
You should loosen up and relax

I'm satisfied to sit here working all day lo-o-o-ong
I am content to spend the entire day working laboriously

You're in the darker side of town
You exist in the less affluent region of town

And when I'm out I see you walking
Whenever I am outside, I see you strolling

Why don't your eyes see me
Why don't you acknowledge my presence

Could it be you've found another game to play
Mayhaps you've discovered a new way to occupy yourself

What did mama say to me
What did my mother advise me

That's the way
That is how things are

Oh, that's the way it ought to be, ahh-ohh, ohh-ahh, ahh-ahh, ohh-ohh, don't you know
That is the right way things should be, have you not realized it

Mama said, ohh, mama said
My mother stated

That's the way it ought to stay, ohh-hoh
That is the proper way it should continue to be

And yesterday I saw you standing by the river
The previous day, I witnessed you standing alongside the river

And weren't those tears that filled your eyes
Was it not your eyes that were welled up with tears

And all the fish that lay in dirty water dying
Countless fish dying in polluted waters

Had they got you hypnotized
Perhaps, they have mesmerized you

And yesterday I saw you kissing tiny flowers
I observed you kissing minute flowers the previous day

But all that lives is born to die
Everything that lives is mortal

And so I say to you that nothing really matterrs
Thus, I express to you that nothing truly counts

And all you do is stand and cry
And all you do is remain standing and weep

I don't know what to say about it
I am uncertain about what to express regarding it

When all your ears have turned away
When all of your attention is elsewhere

But now's the time to look and look again at what you see, ohhh
But presently is the moment to scrutinize what you witness, deeply

Is that the way it ought to stay
Is that how things should remain

Ohh, that's the way it oughta be, oh-hoh, oh-hoh, oh-hoh, oh-hoh, oh-hoh, no-no-no
Ohh, that is how things should be, no doubt about it

Mama said, oh, mama said that's the way it's gonna stay, oh-hoh, oh-hoh, ohhh
My mother said that is precisely how things are going to remain

Ahhh ahhh ahhh ahhhhhh
vocalization

Ahhh ahhhhh
vocalization