Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)

Way back in my memory there's a scene that I recall

Of a little run-down cabin in the woods

Where my dad never promised that our blue moon would turn gold

But he laid awake nights wishin' that it would.

When the world was on our radio, hard work was on our minds.

We lived our day-to-day in plain dirt fashion,

With ol' overalls and cotton balls all strapped across your back

Man, it's hard to make believe there ain't nothing wrong.

But momma kept the Bible read and daddy kept our family fed,

And somewhere in between I must have grown

Cause someday I was dreamin' that a song that I was singin'

Takes me down the road to where I want to go.

Now I know, it's a long hard road

Sometimes I remember when I stay up late at night,

When the sun-up came, we got up and went

In the shadows of a working' day, our moonlight hours spent

Singin' songs along with Gramma's radio.

Now I'm beatin' down a ol' blacktop road, sleepin' in a sack,

Livin' in my memories all in vain

'Cause those city lights ain't all that bright, compared to what its like

To see lightning bugs go dancin' in the rain.

Momma played the guitar then, and daddy made the saw blade bend,

And raindrops played the tin roof like a drum.

But I just kept on dreamin' that a song that I was singin'

Takes me down the road to where my name is known.

Now I'm gone, and its a long hard road

Yes, I know, Its a long hard road.