I was born and raised down in Alabama
on a farm way back up in the woods
used to call me "Patches" P
Papa used to tease me about it,
but deep down inside dad was hurtin'
'Cause he'd done the best he could
My papa was a great old man
I can see him with a shovel in his hand
Education that he never had
But he did wonders when the times got bad
The little money from the crops we raised
Barely paid the bills we made
Two days later papa passed away
And I became a man that day
Everyday I had to work the fields
'Cause that's the only way
See, I was the oldest of the family
And everybody was depending on me
Daddy had been sick for a long time,
Every evenin' af ter we'd finish
our chores and eat our dinner
room to cheer him up a little
And this particular day dad
Sittin' on the side of the bed, tellin'
papa had a pain in his chest
I was too young to understand
Talkin' about a heart attack
Mama rushed us all out of the room
About ten minutes later she came
out with tears in her eyes
She called out to me, "Patches,
Patches, get in here, boy
Your daddy want to see you"
I went runnin' into papa's room,
Daddy had tears in his eyes
I knew something was wrong,
But all of my life he'd been a proud man
I knelt down on one knee beside the bed
Papa put his hand on my shoulder
He said, "Patches, Patches, boy
The hammer of life done beat your old
And I ain't got nobody to turn to to
take care of mama and the younger
Is that you're gonna do your best to
help your mama as much as you can"
But little did I know then like I know now
That tryin' to climb life's mountains
searchin' for a top where there ain't no top
Sometimes you find yourself frustrated,
But every time I feel like I can't
live my life like I want to
My mind goes back to that day when I see
those tears in my daddy's eyes
But most of all I remember his words, "Patches,
I'm dependin' on you, boy"
Every time I feel like givin' up,
I'm depending on you, son
It's up to you to do the rest
I'm depending on you, son
To pull the family through
My son, it's all left up to you
5.0
