"Patches, I'm depending on you son".....

[CrownPrinceBandar]

"...Two days later papa passed away
I became a man that day
So I told mama I was gonna quit school
But she said that was daddy's strictest rule
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 and run away from 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
I tried to do my best,
It's up to you to do the rest."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99quHal1rTA

Damn. What a depressing song. Those who know it can thank me for the earworm later.

[WhollyHeretic]

1. To pull the family through...

It's a damn depressing song.

[texanwitch]

2. When I think about that song I think about my father.

His father died in 1932 when my father was 10 years old and he had to support my his baby sister and mother.

[astral]

3. Then one day a strong rain came and washed all the crops away

and at the age of 13 I thought I was carrying the weight of the whole world up on my shoulders.
And you know Mama knew what I was going through 'cuz
everyday I had to work the fields, cuz thats the only way we got our meals, see
I was the oldest of the family
And everybody just depended on me
Every night I heard my Mama pray, Lord, give him strength to face another day

Sometimes I felt that I couldn't go on
I wanted to leave, just run away from home
But I would remember what my Daddy said
with tears in his eyes on his dying bed

He said Patches, I'm depending on you son
. . . . ?
my son it's all left up to you

________________________________________________

That song was on the a.m. radio in 1970 and I loved it. I was young enough that songs still affected my whole body and soul. Still can, but you know what I mean.

[lettre de cachet]

4. George Jones & B.B. King

George Jones and B.B. King duetted this song on the Country Rhythm and Blues CD. Made me bawl my eyes out when my dad had a quadruple bypass.