Patches

PATCHES Clarence Carter SPOKEN: I was born and raised down in Alabama On a farm way back up in the woods I was so ragged the kids would call me patches Papa used to kid me about it Of course deep down inside He was thinkin he had done all he could do 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 time got bad A little money from the crops he raised Barely paid the bills we made Oh life had kicked him down to the plow When he tried to get up life would kick him back down One day papa called me to his dyin bed Put 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 SPOKEN: Two days later papa pa*sed away I became a man that day So I told mama I was gonna quit school But she said that was dad's strictest rule So every morning 'fore 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 this but I wanted a home But I always remembered what my daddy said With tears in his eyes on his dyin 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 SPOKEN: But then one day a strong rain came And washed all the crops away And at the age of thirteen I thought I was carrying The weight of the whole world on my shoulders And you know, mama knew what I was going through, Cause Everyday I had to work the fields Cause that's the only way we got our meals You see, I was the oldest of a family And everybody else depended on me Every night I heard my mama pray Lord, give him the strength to face another day Though years have pa*sed and all the kids are gone I aimed to take my mama to a brand new home God knows people that I shed a tear My daddy's voice helped me through the years Sayin, "Patches, I'm depending on you son To pull the family through My son, it's all left up to you I could still hear papa when he'd say Patches, I'm depending on you son I tried to do my best It's up to you to do the rest". FADE