Patches

I was born and raised down in Alabama
On a farm way back up in the woods
Oh, I was so ragged, folks used call me Patches
Papa used to tease me about it
But deep down inside dad was hurtin'
'Cause he done the best he could do

My papa was a great old man
I can see him with a shovel in his hand
Education daddy 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

Oh, life put him down to the ground
When he tried to get up, life would kick him back down
On the day papa called me to his dying bed
Placed his hands on my shoulders and in tears 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, everyday 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 was depending on me

Now, years have passed, everybody's grown
Mama's been living in a brand new home
Lord knows it took a lot of sweat and tears
And my daddy's voice helped that us through the years

He said, "Patches, I'm depending on you son
To pull the family through, my son, it's all left up to you"

Daddy had been sick for a long time, flat on his back
Every evening after we'd finished our chores and eat our dinner
We'd all go into papa's room to cheer him up a little
And this particular day, Dad was in good spirits
Sitting on the side of the bed telling mama how good she looked
When all of a sudden papa had a pain in his chest

I was too young to understand, talking about a heart attack here
Mama rushed all of us out of the room into the hallway
About ten minutes later she came out with tears in her eyes
She called out to me
"Patches, patches get in here boy you're Daddy want to see you"
I went running to papa's room there papa lay there

Daddy had tears in his eyes, I knew something was wrong
'Cause Daddy was a poor man 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 papa down to the ground and I ain't got nobody
To turn to take care of mama and the young ones"

"So, what I want you to do is promise me son
Is that you're gonna do your best to help your mama
As much as you can", I said, "Papa I'm gonna do my best"
But little did I know then like I know right now
That trying to climb life's mountain
Searching for a top when there ain't no top

Sometimes you find yourself frustrated, lazy
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 depending on you boy"

Every time I feel like giving up I hear his voice
"Patches, Patches, Patches, Patches"

"I'm depending on you son
I tried to do my best, it's up you to do the rest"

"Patches, I'm depending on you son
I've tried to do my best, it's up you to do the rest"

"Patches, I'm depending on you son
To pull the family through, my son, it's all left up to you"