The Momma 'n' Daddy Collection 127

The appearance of these Momma 'n' Daddy posts may have become more intermittent, but it isn't because I've run short of material. The tradition is inexhaustible and for good reason; it records unchanging verities. Today, after a long hiatus, we have John Denver singing 'Matthew'. How much more specific could a song be than to be designated thus, with the proper name of one man, Denver's uncle? But, as you will now see, it brings us back to things that are universal and enduring - the joys and hard times of childhood, the stories and memories passed from one family generation to another, and what it's like to be a farmboy in Kansas.

Had an uncle name of Matthew
Was his father's only boy
Born just south of Colby, Kansas
Was his mother's pride and joy

Chorus
And joy was just the thing that he was raised on
Love was just the way to live and die
Gold was just a windy Kansas wheatfield
And blue was just a Kansas summer sky

And all the stories that he told me
Back when I was just a lad
All the memories that he gave me
All the good times that we had

Growing up a Kansas farmboy
Life was mostly having fun
Riding on his Daddy's shoulders
Behind a mule beneath the sun

Repeat chorus

Well, I guess there were some hard times
And I'm told some years were lean
They had a storm in forty-seven
A twister came and stripped them clean

He lost the farm and he lost his family
He lost the wheat and lost his home
But he found the family Bible
And faith as solid as a stone

Repeat chorus

And so he came to live at our house
And he came to work the land
He came to ease my Daddy's burdens
And he came to be my friend

And so, I wrote this down for Matthew
It's for him the song is sung
Riding on his Daddy's shoulders
Behind a mule beneath the sun

Repeat chorus (twice)

Here is John Denver singing the song.

[The Momma 'n' Daddy Archive, containing all the details of the series, is here.]