BB King: Patches

I was born and raised down in alabama on a farm way back up in the woods. ohI was so ragged folks used to call me "patches". papa used to tease me aboutIt, but deep down inside dad was hurtin' 'cause he'd done the best he could.My papa was a great old manI can see him with a shovel in his handEducation that he never hadBut he did wonders when the times got badThe little money from the crops we raisedBarely paid the bills we madeOh life whipped himDown to the groundWhen he tried to get upLife would kick him back downOn the day papa called meTo his dyin' bedPlaced his hand on my shouldersAnd in tears he saidPatchesI'm depending on you, sonTo pull the family throughMy son, it's all left up to youTwo days later papa passed awayAnd i became a man that dayEveryday i had to work the fields'cause that's the only wayWe got our mealsSee, i was the oldest of the familyAnd everybody was depending on meNow the years have passedAnd everybody's grownMama's been livin'In a brand new homeLord knows it tookA lot of sweat and tearsAnd my daddy's voiceTo help us through the yearsHe said -PatchesI'm depending on you, sonTo pull the family throughMy son, it's all left up to youDaddy had been sick for a long time, flat on his back. every evenin' afterWe'd finish our chores and eat our dinner, we'd all go into papa's room toCheer him up a little. and this particular day dad was in good spirits,Sittin' on the side of the bed, tellin' mama how good she looked. when allOf a sudden, papa had a pain in his chest. i was too young to understand,Talkin' about a heart attack here. mama rushed us all out of the room intoThe hallway. about ten minutes later she came out with tears in her eyes.She called out to me, "patches, patches, get in here, boy. your daddy wannaSee you." i went runnin' into papa's room, there papa lay. daddy had tearsIn his eyes. i knew something was wrong, daddy was a poor man, but all of myLife he'd been a proud man. i knelt down on one knee beside the bed, papaPut his hand on my shoulder. he said, "patches, patches, boy, the hammer ofLife done beat your old papa down to the ground, and i ain't got nobody toTurn to to take care of mama and the younger. so what i want you to do isPromise me, son, is that you're gonna do your best to help your mama as muchAs you can." i said, "papa, i'm gonna do my best." but little did i knowThen like i know now, that tryin' to climb life's mountains searchin' for aTop where 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 goesBack to that day when i see those tears in my daddy's eyes. but most of allI remember his words, "patches, i'm dependin' on you, boy." every time iFeel like givin' up, i hear his voice. "patches, patches, patches, patches -"I'm depending on you, sonI've tried to do my bestIt's up to you to do the restPatchesI'm depending on you, sonI've tried to do my bestIt's up to you to do the restPatchesI'm depending on you, sonTo pull the family throughMy son, it's all left up to you