Dixie Lullaby

My father had skin like leather Hands like steel From a lifetime spent in the cotton fields I know he'd come home tired and dirty Almost every night He found the strength to smile at me, and hold my mama tight While that old transistor radio would play the opry out in the hall I'd sit and watch their shadows glide across the wall And they'd dance to a Dixie lullaby A picture of love beneath the southern sky Oh my, what a beautiful life Just like a Dixie lullaby I left home at 18 In a hand me down Chevrolet Packed my mama's goodness, my old man's stubborn ways It was college, work, and love Then the babies came The youngest one got his granddaddy's name And in the early morning hours, when my children could not sleep I'd rock them in my arms to a simple beat I'd sing them a Dixie lullaby Hush baby, don't you start to cry Oh my, what a beautiful life Just like a Dixie lullaby My father was a mountain of a man That was the description that I gave The morning that we laid him in his grave There, with my mama by his side, we said our last goodbye To a man we thought would never die As I stood there in the fields of amazing grace Oh, how the tears ran down my face And I sang him a Dixie lullaby We'll meet again, by and by Oh my, what a beautiful life Just like a Dixie lullaby Oh my, what a beautiful life Just like a Dixie lullaby