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I was born and raised down in Alabama |
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On a farm way back up in the woods |
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I was so raggedy, |
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folks used to call me Patches |
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Papa used to tease me about it |
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Of course deep down inside he was hurt |
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Because he'd done all he could |
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My papa was a great old man |
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I can see him with a shovel in his hand |
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See, education he never had |
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But he did wonders when the times got bad |
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The little money from the crops he raised |
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Barely paid the bills we made |
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Oh, life it kicked him down to the ground |
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When he tried to get up |
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Life would kick him back down |
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One day papa called to his dying bed |
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Put his hands on my shoulders |
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And in tears he said |
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He said, "Patches |
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I'm depending on you, son |
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To pull the family through |
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My son, it's all let up to you" |
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Two days later papa passed away |
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And I became a man that day |
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So I told mama I was going to quit school |
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But she said that was daddy's strictest rule |
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So every morning before I went to school |
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I fed the chickens and I chopped wood too |
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Sometimes I felt that I couldn't go on |
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I wanted to leave, just run away from home |
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But I would remember what my daddy said |
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With tears in his eyes on his dying bed |
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He said, "Patches |
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I'm depending on you, son |
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I tried to do my best |
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It's up to you to do the rest" |
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But then one day a strong rain came |
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And washed all the crops away |
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And at the age of 13 |
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I thought I was carrying the weight |
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of the whole |
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World on my shoulders |
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And you know mama knew |
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what I was going through |
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Because every day I had to work the fields |
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Because that's the only way |
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we got our meals |
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You see, I was the oldest of the family |
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And everybody else depended on me |
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Every night I heard my mama pray |
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Lord, give him the strength to face |
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another day |
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4 years have passed |
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and all the kids have grown |
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The angels took mama to a brand |
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new home |
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God knows people, I shed tears |
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But my daddy's voice kept me |
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through the years |
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Saying, "Patches |
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I'm depending on you, son |
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To pull the family through |
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My son, it's all left up to you" |
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I can still hear papa when he said, "Patches |
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I'm depending on you, son |
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I tried to do my best |
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It's up to you to do the rest" |
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I can still hear papa when he said "Patches |
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I'm depending on you, son |
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To pull the family through |