There wasn't nobody that ever liked him farless loved him If you never got the chance to get to know him you wouldn't thought too much of him Folks said he was half mean if that was so that's all the mean he had to be As big as he was He was my daddy and he raised me The northeast Arkansas Mississippi County bootlegger I can't say that all he did in his life was always right I've heard talk back before I was born that he k**ed a man in a fight But all I know about him was how he took care of his own And some he didn't have to They'd shun him through the day but at night they'd bow From the northeast Arkansas Mississippi County bootlegger [ dobro ] He was ma daddy and he raised me The northeast Arkansas Mississippi County bootlegger My mama used to take me down to the croosroard church on Sunday
The deacons and the ladies would talk about us and how we got our money But that didn't stop them When they decided they wanted a brand new sanctuary they came to see mama And the house of God was paid for By the northeast Arkansas Mississippi County bootlegger Now a man can only do the best he can by those he loves And maybe the livin' he made for us some others were jealous of The law of the land said he couldn't do it But there's also the law of supply and demand if it hadn't been him It might have been someone who wasn't as honest As the northeast Arkansas Mississippi County bootlegger Yeah he was a good man when he died I cried For the northeast Arkansas Mississippi County bootlegger