Brent Best Robert Cole
“Hey, Little Man”, she said
“Open your eyes and lift your sleepy head
You know tomorrow's your big day”
“Here are your clothes”, she said
So I, I put ‘em on and I made the bed
And I went outside to play
With a sun so huge it shined
Yeah and it baked the blacktop underneath my toes
Playing hopscotch on the lines
Till she howled my name in a shriek it came
With a swell of shame and sadness I just froze
With a pain I simply can't define
Yeah and she said
“I am your mother
I told your sister and baby brother
Your dog, Champ, and your best friend
That your name is Robert Cole
And tomorrow you are nine years old
But you, you will not walk this road again”
Now a young son's heart is fair
So I, I took her words and I kept them there
But a young boy's mind's of a different gauge
And my father's words returned to me
From some stormy evening with Mother on her knees
“My life is mine”, he swore and raged
And he left her there upon the floor
I can hear him curse and slam the door
Yeah he found me squatting in the dirt
And spoke to me of family
And of sacrifices unforeseen
Of change and children, worth and work
Yeah and he said
“Please tell your mother
Your older sister and baby brother
Your dog, Champ, and your best friend
That your name is Robert Cole
And tomorrow you are nine years old
But you, you will not walk this road again”
I scanned the yard and house
Secured no sign of Mother's workworn blouse
But for my heart this world was still
Each foot a heavy load
The blacktop baked and burned under my toes
Round the curve and below the hill
And this is the blacktop road
Where I was not to walk ‘til I was old
If Jeannie saw me she would snitch
And these are the tire tracks
That'll lead you down and round to where
There's a car off in the ditch
And I heard the fireman yell
“This one is smashed and torn to hell”
And he could not recognize the face
And I am my mother's son, yeah
But now it seems I've gone off and become
The one to take my daddy's place
Please tell my mother
My older sister and baby brother
My dog, Champ, and my best friend
That my name is Robert Cole
And tomorrow I am nine years old
But I, I will not walk this road again
Please tell my mother
My older sister and baby brother
My dog, Champ, and my best friend
That my name is Robert Cole
And tomorrow I am nine years old
But I, I will not walk this road again
