Down In the Short Rows
©2008, Roger Judd, CaneyFork Publishing, BMI
Maw and Pappy raised 9 children on the handle of a hoe
They got up long before daylight and to the fields they'd go
a' choppin weeds out from their crops beneath the blazing sun
When their work was almost finished, near the ending of the day
to coax the young-uns onward you could hear old Pappy say...
[We're down in the short rows now ]
[we've got to hurry onward as the sun is going down ]
[Don't give up now children, cause the end is here in sight]
[We've got to hurry onward as the sun is going down ]
[we're down in the short rows now ]
Today those fields are all grown over, Maw and Pappy they are gone
But the lesson that they taught us in the field still lingers on
and now I hoe a different row in a different field thats all my own
Dear Lord my strength is failing hear my prayer dear Lord I pray
in those quiet moments before sunset, I can hear old Pappy say