Lyric discussion by prairie11 

Cover art for Hey Mama lyrics by Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats

Very strong soulful song.

Always tough in these “conversation” songs to be sure who is saying what.

I see a mother calling her son over to talk to her. She sees that he’s down and ready to give up on his dream. It’s a dream she’s told him to give up on in the past, but now she realizes just how much this means to him. So she gives him the “tough” talk: he thinks he’s tried all he can but she knows he can do more. She goes back on what she’s said before, telling him he has picked a bad time to finally agree with the negative things she’s said. He’s gone too far now to give up; he can give more.

In short - suck it up and keep going!

@prairie11 I think you got it right.