♪♪
♪ Everyone considered him a coward of the county ♪
♪ He never stood one single time to prove the county wrong ♪
♪ His mama named him Tommy, but folks just called him Yellow ♪
♪ Something always told me they were reading Tommy wrong ♪
♪ He was only ten years old when his daddy died in prison ♪
♪ 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 has 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 ♪
♪ 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 lover's Becky ♪
♪ In her arms, he didn't have to prove he was a man ♪
♪ One day while he was workin', the gang boys came callin' ♪
♪ They took turns there at Becky, and there was three of them ♪
♪ Tommy opened up the door and saw his Becky cryin' ♪
♪ The torn dress, the shattered look was more than he could stand ♪
♪ He reached above the fireplace, took down his daddy's picture ♪
♪ And 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 don'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 ballroom ♪
♪ One of them got up and met him halfway towards the door ♪
♪ When Tommy turned around, they said, hey, look, old yellow's leavin' ♪
♪ But you could've heard a pin drop when Tommy stopped and locked the door ♪
♪ Twenty years of crawlin' was bottled up inside him ♪
♪ He wasn't holdin' nothin' back, he let them have it all ♪
♪ When Tommy left the ballroom, not a gatlin' boy was standin' ♪
♪ He said, this one's for Becky, as he watched the last one fall, I heard him say ♪
♪ I promised your dad not to do the things he'd done, I walk away from trouble when 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 a coward of the county ♪