Capo 4

G 
I was born and raised down in Alabama 
Bm 
On a farm way back up in the woods 
G7 
I was so raggedy, folks used call me, 'Patches' 
C             Bm           Am 
Papa used to tease me 'bout it 
G                                       E 
Of course deep down inside he was hurt 
Am 
'Cause he'd done all he could 

 D 
My papa was a great ol' man 
C 
I can see him with a shovel in his hand 
D 
See, education he never had 
C 
But he did wonders when the time got bad 
D 
The little money from the crops he raised 
C 
Barely paid the bills we made 






G                                       Bb 
Oh, life it kicked him down to the ground 
C                                       G 
When he tried to get up, life would kick him back down 
G                                  Bb 
One day papa called me to his dyin' bed 
C                                               G 
Put his hands on my shoulders and in tears he said 

             G 
He said, 'Patches 
                        Bm 
I'm dependin' on you, son 
                          G7 
To pull the family through 
                     C  Bm Am  G  E   Am 
My son, it's all left up to you' 

D 
Two days later papa passed away 
C 
And I became a man that day 
D 
So I told mama I was gonna quit school 
C 
But she said that was daddy's strictest rule 
D 
So every morning 'fore I went to school 
C                                                                                        
I fed the chickens and I chopped wood too 




G                               Bb 
Sometimes I felt that I couldn't go on 
C                               G 
I wanted to leave, just run away from home 
G                               Bb 
But I would remember what my daddy said 
C                               G 
With tears in his eyes on his dyin' bed 

  
             G 
He said, 'Patches 
                              Bm 
I'm dependin' on you, son 
                      G7 
I tried to do my best 
                 C  Bm     Am  G  E   Am 
It's up to you to do the rest' 

                    G 
But then one day a strong rain came 
            Bm 
And washed all the crops away 
       G7 
And at the age of 13 
                       C               Bm                Am         G                       E 
I thought I was carryin' the weight of the whole world on my shoulders 
                                       Am 
And you know mama knew what I was going through 






 D 
'Cause every day I had to work the fields 
C 
'Cause that's the only way we got our meals 
D 
You see, I was the oldest of the family 
C 
And everybody else depended on me 
D 
Every night I heard my mama pray 
C  
Lord, give him strength to face another day 

  G                                     Bb 
4 years have passed and all the kids have grown 
C                               G 
The angels took mama to a brand new home 
G                       Bb 
God knows people, I she'd tears 
C                               G 
But my daddy's voice kept me through the years 

           G 
Sayin', 'Patches 
                                Bm 
I'm dependin' on you, son 
                              G7 
To pull the family through 
                      C          G    E   Am 
My son, it's all left up to you' 

                                                    



                                                        G 
I can still hear papa when he said, 'Patches 
                               Bm 
I'm dependin' on you, son 
                         G7 
I tried to do my best 
                 C  Bm  Am  G   E   Am  
It's up to you to do the rest' 

                                                      G 
I can still hear papa when he said, 'Patches 
                                Bm 
I'm dependin' on you, son 
                               G7 
To pull the family through