Coward of the County
Baby Blue
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Lyrics
Everyone considered him the coward of the county
He'd never stood a single time to prove the county wrong
His mama named him Tommy, the folks just called him "Yellow"
But something always told me they were reading Tommy wrong
Now he was only ten years old when his daddy died in prison
So I looked after Tommy 'cause he was my brother's son
And I still recall the final words my brother said to Tommy
"Son, my life is over, but yours has just begun"
Promise me, son, not to do the things I've done
Walk away from trouble if you can
Now it won't mean you're weak if you turn the other cheek
I hope you're old enough to understand
Son, you don't have to fight to be a man
There's someone for everyone and Tommy's love was Becky
In her arms, he didn't have to prove he was a man
One day while he was working, the Gatlin boys came calling
They took turns at Becky and there was three of them
Tommy opened up the door and he saw his Becky crying
The torn dress, the shattered look was more than he could stand
And he reached above the fireplace and took down his daddy's picture
As his tears fell on his daddy's face, he heard these words again
Promise me, son, not to do the things I've done
Walk away from trouble if you can
Now it won't mean you're weak if you turn the other cheek
I hope you're old enough to understand
Son, you don't have to fight to be a man
The Gatlin boys just laughed at him when he walked into the bar room
One of them got up, met him half way 'cross the floor
When Tommy turned around, he said, "Hey, look, old yellow's leaving"
But you could have heard a pin drop
When Tommy stopped and locked the door
Twenty years of crawling was bottled up inside him
He wasn't holding nothing back, he let 'em have it all
When Tommy left the bar room, not a Gatlin boy was standing
He said, "This one's for Becky" as he watched the last one fall
And I heard him say
I promised you, Dad, not to do the things you've done
I'll walk away from trouble if I can
Now please don't think I'm weak, I didn't turn the other cheek
And Papa, I sure hope you understand
Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man
Everyone considered him the coward of the county