I still remember the old days When I was young and in school My mind will wander to when I was so confused And I was never sure of whom I was I was living far away from home I missed my family and my friends But out of the gloom there was a woman Who kept us laughing into the deeps of the night And we called her Mama Bendel, Mama Bendel To her we went for our meals She made amala the way I liked it Mama Bendel, Mama Bendel She was always there She put the shine in my dull days She knew how to make a stone laugh She knew how to lift my dark clouds away She told me stories of how she grew up As a young girl in a village far away She painted a world of happiness And taught me the things mother forgot to teach She talked about love and pain And what you must do to keep your head Up above the storms of life She was Mama Bendel, Mama Bendel She would sing and dance Just to soothe my young soul Mama Bendel, Mama Bendel Honest and true She was the queen in my little world ♪ Now Mama Bendel is gone away She died in her sleep a few years ago They said just before she left She gave everyone a smile and said: "I'll be seeing you very soon" Just like ♪ Mama Bendel, Mama Bendel To her we went for our meals She made amala the way I liked it Mama Bendel, Mama Bendel She was always there She put the shine in my dull days Mama Bendel, Mama Bendel Mama Bendel, Mama Bendel ♪ Mama Bendel, Mama Bendel Mama Bendel, Mama Bendel