You know most people look through
Their wallets or their pocketbooks
And way down at the bottom
Past the credit cards
Baby pictures and so on
You usually find a little old
Piece of dog eared poetry
I’s cleaning out my wallet the other day
And I ran across a whole bunch of I. O. U. ‘s
Some of them thirty-five years overdue
And you know the funny thing
All these I. O. U. ‘s are owed to one person
And I kinda felt like that maybe now
Would be a pretty good time
For an accounting
Mom, I sure hope you’re listening
Sweet lady, I owe you for so many things
A lot of services
Like night watchman for instance
Lying awake nights listening for coughs
And cries and creaking floorboards
Ha ha, and me coming in too late
Boy, you had the eye of an eagle
And the roar of a lion but you always
Had a heart as big as a house
I owe you for services like
Uh, short order cook, chef, baker
For making sirloin out of hamburger
And turkey out of tuna fish and
Big old strapping boys out of leftovers
I owe you for cleaning services
The daily scrubbing of face and ears
All work done by hand
And for the frequent dusting
Of a small boys pants to try to
Make sure that he led a spotless life
And for washing and ironing
That no laundry could ever do
For drying the tears of childhood and
Ironing out the problems of growing up
I owe you for services as a bodyguard
For protecting me from the terrors
Of thunderstorms and nightmares
Heh, and too many green apples
And Lord knows I owe you
For medical attention
For nursing me through measles, mumps
Bruises, bumps, splinters and spring fever
Oh, oh, let’s not forget medical advise
Important things like if you keep on
Scratching that, it’ll never get well
Or if you cross your eyes
They’re gonna stick like that
And probably the most
Important advice of em all
Boy, you be sure you
Got on clean underwear
In case you’re in an accident
And I owe you for veterinarian services
For feeding every lost dog that I
Dragged home at the end of the rope
And for healing the pains of puppy love
And I owe you for entertainment
Entertainment that kept the household
Going during some pretty tough times
And for wonderful productions at
Christmas, 4th of July, birthdays
And for making make believe come true
And you did it all on such a limited budget
I owe you for construction work
For building kites and confidence
Hopes and dreams and somehow
You made em all touch the sky
And for cementing together a family
So it would stand the worst kinds
Of shocks and blows and for laying down
A good strong foundation to build a life on
I owe you for carrying charges
For carrying me on your books
For the necessities of life
That a growing boy somehow
They just gotta have
Things like, ha ha
A pair of high top boots with a
Little pocket on the side
For a jackknife
And one thing, Mom, I’ll never forget
When there were two pieces of pie
And three hungry people
You were always the one who decided
Well, I’m not really that hungry anyhow
These are just a few of the things
For which payment is long overdue
The person that I owe em to
Worked very, very cheap
She managed by simply doing without
A whole lotta things that she needed herself
My I. O. U. ‘s add up to more
Than I could ever hope to repay
But you know the nicest thing about it all
That I know that she’d mark
The entire bill paid in full
For just one kiss and four little words
Mom, I love you
Jimmy Dean – I. O. U. Lyrics