Patches

I was born and raised down in Alabama On a farm way back up in the woods I was so ragged the folks used to call me Patches Papa used to tease me about it Deep down inside he was hurt 'cause he'd done all he could My papa was a great old man I can see him with a shovel in his hand See, education he never had He did wonders when the times got bad The little money from the crops he raised Barely paid the bills we made Oh, life had kicked him down to the ground When he tried to get up, life would kick him back down One day papa called me to his dyin' bed Put his hands on my shoulders and in tears he said He said, "Patches, I'm depending on you son To pull the family through My son, it's all left up to you" Two days later, papa passed away And I became a man that day So I told mama I was gonna quit school But she said that was daddy's strictest rule So every morning 'fore I went to school I fed the chickens and I chopped wood too Sometimes I felt that I couldn't go on I wanted to leave, just run away from home But I would remember what my daddy said With tears in his eyes on his dyin' bed He said, "Patches, I'm depending on you son I tried to do my best It's up to you to do the rest" Then one day a strong rain came and washed all the crops away And at the age of 13 I thought I was carrying The weight of the whole world on my shoulders Mama knew what I was going through, because Every day, I had to work the fields 'Cause that's the only way we got our meals See, I was the oldest of the family And everybody else depended on me Every night I heard my mama pray "Lord, give him strength to face another day" Though years have passed and all the kids are grown The angels took mama to a brand new home Lord knows people, I shed a tear My daddy's voice helped me through the years Sayin', "Patches, I'm depending on you son To pull the family through My son, it's all left up to you" Oh, "Patches, I'm depending on you son I tried to do my best It's up to you to do the rest" I could still hear papa when he's sayin' "Patches, I'm depending on you son To pull the family through My son, it's all left up to you" Oh, I like to hear father's voice say "Patches, I'm depending on you son I've tried to do the best..."