Clarence Carter

[SSScout]

I started out to make a cute connection to the thread about uniform "patches", but got caught up in the song itself. It's very Scout connected, on it's own. Loyalty , trustworthiness, "do your best", keeping promises, bravery, thriftiness, being helpful, acting kindly to folks, obedience, it's all there.

 

I leave it to someone else to make the Cub/Scoutmaster minute out of this that it deserves.

 

Patches == Clarence Carter

 

(vamp)

I was born and raised down in Alabama on a farm way back up in the woods. Oh I was so ragged folks used to call me "Patches". Papa used to tease me about it, but deep down inside dad was hurtin' 'cause he'd done the best he could.

 

My papa was a great old man

I can see him with a shovel in his hand

Education that he 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 whipped 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 dyin' bed

Placed his hand 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

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 the years have passed

And everybody's grown

Mama's been livin'

In a brand new home

Lord knows it took

A lot of sweat and tears

And my daddy's voice

To help 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

 

(vamp)

Daddy had been sick for a long time, flat on his back. Every evenin' after we'd finish 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, sittin' on the side of the bed, tellin' mama how good she looked. When all of 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 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. Your daddy wanna see you." I went runnin' into papa's room, there papa lay. Daddy had tears

in his eyes. I knew something was wrong, 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 to take care of mama and the younger. 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 now, that tryin' to climb life's mountains searchin' for a top where there ain't no top, sometimes you find yourself frustrated, crazy.

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 dependin' on you, boy." Every time I feel like givin' up, I hear his voice. "Patches, Patches, Patches, Patches -"

 

I'm depending on you, son

I've tried to do my best

It's up to you to do the rest

 

Patches

I'm depending on you, son

I've tried to do my best

It's up to 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