Family Album

On Sunday after church there'd always be a picnic

There'd be kinfolks callin' until dawn

Me I'd play the guitar and my Uncle Merle would sing

And grandpa he'd play that fiddle all night long

Now the women folk they would work out in the kitchen

You could smell that food for miles and miles around

Paw he was prayin' my brother Jack would bring him down some moonshine

Just so's that he could warsh those viddle down

As soon as all the kids got tired of playin' horseshoes

Mama she'd call me over to her side

You know she'd say I'd like to take some pictures

You could see her face light up with pride

And then she'd bring out that worn out family album

Its faded pictures some with corners torn

She'd laugh and poin and tell me funny stories

And look she'd say why that's the day that you were born

And I'd sit and reminisce each picture with her

And I'd listen to her laughter and her sighs

But underneath I knew how much I'd hurt her

For I'd put teardrops in my mama's eyes

In my mama's eyes I've never done a wrong thing

I was still a baby in my mama's eyes

That old family album she'll keep on her night stand

Right next to the Bible until the day she dies

Through all those years in prison she stuck by me

And she came to visit anytime she could

Well I remember at my trial when she testified she loved me

And she told the judge I'd always been so good

Then later through the fame she watched me blossom

From just a local country singer to a great big star

She listened to all my records for the hidden meanings

And she came to hear me sing in all those dim lit bars

And she read all the things they wrote about me

But she knew deep in her heart that it was lies

No she don't hide her head in shame when someone says my name

You'll find no teardrops in my mama's eyes

In my mama's eyes...

Right next to the Bible until the day she dies