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 killed  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