Patches Lyrics

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"

439610b9861b048ce120ffa6d729a559