Oh, she's tender but she's tough   And still willing to love   If there's a man enough to be her man   But right now her hands are full   Fighting back the tears and the wolves   But she keeps smiling just as hard as she can      Chorus      She's twenty-nine and holding the world   on her shoulders   They're all counting on mama   And she ain't about to let them down   (Oh) There's no time to worry about turning   thirty   When you're twenty-nine and holding   The world on your shoulders      Yes, the one who she once loved   Just didn't have the guts   To be a lover or father or much of a man   Yeah, he just had to have his space   So she put him in his place   Out in the road with his suitcase in his hand      Repeat Chorus      Bridge   Well, it's the kids and it's the job   It's the kitchen and it's the mop   Hey, it's the life of a woman that's on her own   And Lord, I just gotta say   That we all ought to be ashamed   If our biggest trouble is just turning old and gray      Repeat Chorus      She's twenty-nine and holding the world on   her shoulders