Everyone considered him the coward of the county
He'd never stood one single time to prove the county wrong
His mama called him Tommy, the folks just called him yellow
Something always told me they were reading Tommy wrong

And he was only ten years old when his daddy died in prison
And I took care of Tommy 'cause he was my brother's son
I still recall the final words my brother said to Tommy
'Son, my life is over, but yours is just begun'

'Promise me, son, not to do the things I've done
Walk away from trouble if you can
Now it don't mean you're weak if you turn the other cheek
And I hope you're old enough to understand
Son, you don't have to fight to be a man'

There's someone for everyone and Tommy's love was Becky
In her arms he didn't have to prove he was a man
One day while he was workin' the gatlin' boys came callin'
They took turns at Becky, there we're three of them

Tommy opened up the door and saw his Becky cryin'
The torn dress, the shattered look was more than he could stand
He reached above the fireplace and took down his daddy's picture
As the tears fell on his daddy's face, I heard these words again

'Promise me, son, not to do the things I've done
Walk away from trouble if you can
Now it won't mean you're weak if you turn the other cheek
And I hope you're old enough to understand
Son, you don't have to fight to be a man'

The gatlin' boys just laughed at him when he walked into the barroom
One of them got up and met him halfway 'cross the floor
When Tommy turned around they said, 'Hey look, ol' yellow's leavin''
You coulda heard a pin drop when Tommy stopped and locked the door

Twenty years of crawlin' was bottled up inside him
He wasn't holdin' nothin' back, he let 'em have it all
When Tommy left the barroom not a gatlin' boy was standin'
He said, 'This one's for Becky,' as he watched the last one fall
And I heard him say

'I promised you dad, not to do the things you've done
I walked away from trouble when I can
Now please don't think I'm weak, I couldn't turn the other cheek
And papa, I sure hope you understand
Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man'

Everyone considered him the coward of the county