I asked
mama many times what kept papa so far behind
What in the world was holding
my daddy down
Papa always dropped his head, but he seemed so afraid,
like he was carrying a heavy burden all the time.
There was a man up in the big house, your papa was afraid to speak out,
the man kept my daddy's nose right on the ground.
Girl, your papa, was mighty good
He was doin' the best he could
All his life he lived
just for you
Twelve kids, he had a heavy load
He couldn't walk the front road
On his face he always wore a frown
It was for you and the others too, he was trying to make it through,
he had to take the back road into town
Every year your papa would say, next year we're gonna move away,
I wanna take my children away from here
He said, I've almost lost my fear,
I think I see my way clear
I'm gonna take a stand
and be the man
But then the man would come
from the big house
Daddy would always back out
An d then right up again
behind the plow
But 12 kids, had a heavy load
He couldn't walk the front of the road
On his face he always wore a frown
It was for you and the others too
He was trying to make it through
He had to take the back
road into town
When he finally made up his mind
Your daddy had wasted too much time
Your papa just put it off a little too long
Cause all the years that papa was sleepin'
All the time kept right on creepin'
Till it was time for him to lay
his body down
He did it all against his will
It got lost back in them fields
My daddy never made
it into town
Well, kids, had a heavy load
He couldn't walk the front road
On his face he al
ways wore a crown
It was for you and the others, too
He was tryin' to make it through
Oh, but he had to take the
back road into town
Oh, kids, yeah, oh, hell no
He couldn't walk the front road
On his face he always
wore a frown
It was for you and the others, too
He was tryin' to make it through
But he had to take the
back road in this town
Oh, 12 kids he had
He couldn't walk the front road