Family Hands
Mary Chapin Carpenter

(Mary Chapin Carpenter)


Last Sunday we got in the car and we drove

To the town you were raised in, your boyhood home

The trees were just turning, up on the ridge

And this was your valley when you were a kid

You showed me the railroad that your daddy worked on

As we neared the old house where your granny lives on

She's nearing ninety years now, with her daughters by her side

Who tend the places in the heart where loneliness can hide


Raised by the women who are stronger than you know

A patchwork quilt of memory only women could have sewn

The threads were stitched by family hands, protected from the moth

By your mother...and her mother, the weavers of your cloth


Your grandmother owned a gun in 1932

When times were bad just everywhere, you said she used it too

And the life and times of everyone are traced inside their palms

Her skin may be so weathered, but her grip is still so strong

And I see your eyes belong to her and too your mama too

A slice of Virginia sky, the clearest shade of blue


Raised by the women who are stronger than you know

A patchwork quilt of memory only women could have sewn

The threads were stitched by family hands, protected from the moth

By your mother...and her mother, the weavers of your cloth


And a rich man you might never be, they'd love you just the same

They've handed down so much to you besides your Christian name

And the spoken word won't heal you like the laying on of hands

Belonging to the ones who raised you to a man


Raised by the women who are stronger than you know

A patchwork quilt of memory only women could have sewn

The threads were stitched by family hands, protected from the moth

By your mother...and her mother, the weavers of your cloth


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Lyrics by Mary Chapin Carpenter

  10,000 Miles   A Keeper For Every Flame   A Lot Like Me   A Place In The World   A Road Is Just A Road   Almost Home   Almost Home [#]   Alone But Not Lonely   Beautiful Racket   Bells Are Ringing   Between Here And Gone   Bright Morning Star   Can't Take Love For Granted   Can\'t Take Love For Granted   Candlelight Carol   Children Go Where I Send Thee   Christmas Time In The City   Closer And Closer Apart   Come On Come On   Come On Home   Come on, Come On   Down At The Twist And Shout   Down In Mary's Land   Down In Mary\'s Land   Downtown Train   Dreamland   Elysium   Girls Like Me   Goin Home   Going Out Tonight   Goodbye Again   Goodnight America   Grand Central Station   Grow Old With Me   Halley Came To Jackson   He Thinks He'll Keep Her   Here I Am   Hero In Your Own Hometown   Heroes & Heroines   Hometown Girl   House Of Cards   Houston   How Do   I Am A Town   I Can See It Now   I Feel Lucky   I Feel Lucky [It Could Happen to You]   I Put My Ring Back On   I Take My Chances   I Want To Be Your Girlfriend   I'll Never Fall In Love   I'll Never Fall In Love Again   In The Name Of Love   It Don't Bring You   It Must Have Happened   Jenny Dreamed of Trains   John Doe No. 24   Jubilee   Just Because   Keeping The Faith   King Of Love   Late For Your Life   Leaving Song   Let Me Into Your Heart   Luna's Gone   Maybe World   Middle Ground   Mrs. Hemingway   My Dear Old Friend   My Heaven   Never Had It So Good   Not Too Much To Ask   Oh, Lonesome Me   On And On It Goes   On With The Song   Once In Royal David's City   One Small Heart   Only A Dream   Other Streets and Other Towns   Outside Looking In   Party Doll   Passionate Kisses   Passionate Kisses [Album Version]   Pete   Quittin' Time   Read My Lips   Rhythm Of The Blues   Right Now   River   Shut Up And Kiss Me   Simple Life   Slave To The Beauty   Slow Country Dance   Someone Else's Prayer   Something Of A Dreamer   Stones In The Road   Stones in the Road [Live]   Sudden Gift Of Fate   Swept Away   Tender When I Want To Be   Thanksgiving Song   That's Real   The Better To Dream Of You   The Bug   The Bug [*]   The Calling   The Dreaming Road   The End Of My Pirate Days   The Hard Way   The Last Word   The Long Way Home   The Moon And St. Christopher   The More Things Change   The Shelter Of Storms   This Is Love   This Is Me Leaving You   This Shirt   This Shirt [Live]   Too Tired   Twilight   Walking Through Fire   Waltz   We're All Right   What If We Went To Italy   What Was It Like   What Would You Say To Me   What You Didn't Say   When She's Gone   Whenever You're Ready   Where Time Stands Still   Wherever You Are   Why Shouldn't We   Why Walk When You Can Fly   You Win Again   Your Life Story

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