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