(Spoken)   I was born and raised down in Alabama   On a farm way back up in the woods   I was so ragged that folks used to call me Patches   Papa used to tease me about it   Of course deep down inside he was hurt    'Cause he done all he could      (Sang)   Papa was a great old man   I can see him with a shovel in his hand   See, education he never had   He did wonders when the times got bad   The little money from the crops he raised   Barely paid the bills he made   So life had kicked him down to the ground   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    Then with a 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   And I became a man that day   So I told mama I was gonna quit school   She said that was daddy's strictest rule,      (Sang)   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   To pull the family through    My son, it's all left up to you.      (Spoken)   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   But you know, mama she knew what I was going through,       (Sang)   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 make another day   Though years have passed and all the kids are grown   And amgels took my mama to a brand new home   Lord knows people that I shed a tear   My daddy's voice kept a-tinging in my ears   Sayin, "Patches, I'm depending on you son   To pull the family through    My son, it's all left up to you.      "Patches, I'm depending on you son   To pull the family through    My son, it's all left up to you...