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"