Ooh, oooh, oooh
Ooh, oooh, oooh
Ooh, oooh, oooh
Ooh, oooh, oooh

Verse 1 (him)
I toured with her band / as a backup singer;
By her dressing room I used to linger.
I asked for her hand and she gave me one finger
It’s just like my ma used to say
You can’t lose if you don’t play

Chorus
She’d say
Don’t hatch your chickens before they been counted
Rome wasn’t burnt in a day /
Things that will kill you don’t make you stronger
That’s what my Mama would say
You can’t lose if you don’t play

Verse 2 (her)
He’d hang around my dressing room door
Like a hungry puppy dog, sniffin’ the floor
I liked how he laughed at the things I would say
But he got too close, so I shooed him away /
I remember what mama would say
You can’t lose if you don’t play

Chorus
She’d say
Don’t hatch your chickens before they been counted
Rome wasn’t burnt in a day
Things that will kill you don’t make you stronger
That’s what my Mama would say
You can’t lose if you don’t play

Bridge
But time is a train that never stops rolling
through fields that lie fallow where ain’t nothin’ growing, and
Life is a song that we sing without knowing
if anyone’s singin’ along
We all seem to get the words wrong

Ooh, oooh, oooh
Ooh, oooh, oooh
Ooh, oooh, oooh
Ooh, oooh, oooh

Verse 3 (Her)
So I called up that old puppy dog singer
Asked if he still had that ring for my finger
(Him)
I said I didn’t, but maybe I’d bring her
A broken-heart love song that I could sing her
(Both)
Maybe someday together, we’ll say
You can’t lose if you don’t play

Chorus
We’ll say
Don’t hatch your chickens before they been counted
Rome wasn’t burnt in a day /
Things that will kill you don’t make you stronger
That’s what my Mama would say
You can’t lose if you don’t play

She’d say
Don’t hatch your chickens before they been counted
Rome wasn’t burnt in a day /
Things that will kill you don’t make you stronger
That’s what my Mama would say
You can’t lose if you don’t play

Ooh, oooh, oooh
Ooh, oooh, oooh