Clarence Carter Patches (alabama Version) Lyrics

Patches (alabama Version) Lyrics

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 passed 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 passed 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