SOUTHERN MAN

 VERSE 1 
I was born down in MS - the state they call 10 years behind
I was told that all men were equal - I was taught to treat all men kind
My mother raised four healthy children
    - my father he raised cotton up from the ground
he worked long hard hours so we could live wealthy
    - but I'd rather have had less, and had him around

BRIDGE/CHORUS
And I will never really understand - how a man can give his heart to the work of his hands
I swear there's soil in his veins - and he hides his tears so well in the rain - Southern Man

VERSE 2
I remember riding out to the country
    - the side of the roads they looked like snow
I'd ride back to town in the back of a cotton trailer
    - knowing the freedom only a child can know
But as time moved on and those times they moved behind me
    - I began to see the tarnish on that Delta Gold
You see time with the kid's it got lost, to time in the field
    - and that time that we lost cannot be bought or sold

BRIDGE/CHORUS
And I will never really understand - how a man can give his heart to the work of his hands
I swear there's soil in his veins - and he hides his tears so well in the rain
Southern Man - I want to understand now

VERSE 3
Now I'm older, out on my own - seeing just how ignorant I've been
It's getting harder and harder for me to point my finger
    - cause it's pointing back at me again and again
Now I'm starting to see just where my father comes from
    - as I'm starting to see what he's already seen
You see love gets lost, so we strive to replace it
    - and for men hard honest work is the closest thing

BRIDGE/CHORUS
And I am starting now to understand - how a man can give his heart to the work of his hands
I still swear there's soil in his veins - but his tears are not alone, no his tear are not alone,
no his tears are not alone in the rain - Southern Man - I think I undertand now

© circa 1990 Frazier Riddell / Nashville Days