Coward Of The County

Everyone considered him 
The coward of the county
He never stood one single time 
To prove the county wrong
His mama called him Tommy
But folks just called him yellow
Something always told me
They were reading Tommy wrong.

Now he was only ten years old
When his daddy died in prison
And I took care of Tommy
'Cause he was my brother's son
I still recall the final words
My brother said to Tommy
Son, my life is over
But yours is just begun.

Promise me, son
Not to do the things I've done
Walk away from trouble if you can
Now, it don't mean you're weak
If you turn the other cheek
And I hope you're old enough to understand
Son, you don't have to fight to be a man.

There's someone for everyone
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 Cattelin boys came calling
They took turns at Becky
And there were three of them.

Tommy opened up the door
And saw his Becky crying
The torn dress the shattered look
Was more than he could stand 
He reached above the fireplace
Took down his daddy's picture
As the tears fell on his daddy's face
I heard these words again.

Promise me son
Not to do the things I've done
Walk away from trouble if you can
Now, it don't mean you're weak
If you turn the other cheek
And I hope you're old enough to understand
Son, you don't have to fight to be a man.

The Cattelin boys just laughed at him
When he walked into the barman
One of them got up
And hit him half way across the floor
Tommy turned around they said
Hey, look old yellow's leaving
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 them have it all
When Tommy left the barroom
Not a Cattelin boy was standing
He said this once 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 when I can
Now please don't think I'm weak
I couldn't turn the other cheek
Papa, I sure hope you understand
Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man.

Everyone considered him the coward of the county.