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