Patches

I was born and raised down in Alabama

On a farm way back up in the woods

I was so raggedy,

folks used to call me Patches

Papa used to tease me about it

Of course deep down inside he was hurt

Because 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

But he did wonders when the times got bad

The little money from the crops he raised

Barely paid the bills we made

Oh, life it kicked him down to the ground

When he tried to get up

Life would kick him back down

One day papa called to his dying 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 let up to you"

Two days later papa passed away

And I became a man that day

So I told mama I was going to quit school

But she said that was daddy's strictest rule

So every morning before 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 dying 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"

But 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

And you know mama knew

what I was going through

Because every day I had to work the fields

Because that's the only way

we got our meals

You see, I was the oldest of the family

And everybody else depended on me

Every night I heard my mama pray

Lord, give him the strength to face

another day

4 years have passed

and all the kids have grown

The angels took mama to a brand

new home

God knows people, I shed tears

But my daddy's voice kept me

through the years

Saying, "Patches

I'm depending on you, son

To pull the family through

My son, it's all left up to you"

I can still hear papa when he said, "Patches

I'm depending on you, son

I tried to do my best

It's up to you to do the rest"

I can still hear papa when he said "Patches

I'm depending on you, son

To pull the family through