August Lee

They all called my daddy Augie-dawg
But his name was August Lee
He died a year ago, last spring
It was cancer or the black lung
Maybe it was pride
Always said nobody owed him a thing

He left the mine at 43
Went on disability
Trouble breathing and a bad back too
Seems to me what killed him
Wasn't something in his chest
But the fact that he had nothing left to do

Every man
Needs a purpose
An everyday reason to live
No one wants to feel worthless
If you're still breathing
You've got something to give

August Lee dropped out of school
Joined the Navy at 16
Spent a year or so on a submarine
He came home with some tattoos
And a new set of muscles
Got to tell folks, I served my country

Like his daddy and his granddad
He went down into the mine
It was a job and it paid the rent
He raised me and my sisters
To see that hard labor
Was the mark of a life well spent

Everybody
Needs a purpose
An everyday reason to live
No one wants to feel worthless
If you're still breathing
You've got something to give

Now our neighbors and my uncles
They all knew my father well
And they knew he'd rather go to work
But Augie-dawg was ashamed of
His government check
It gnawed at all his notions of self-worth

Once his body let him down
It took away the life he knew
The VA and their pain meds didn't help
He lost interest in fishing
Sat in front of his TV
Withdrew like a turtle in his shell

After he passed it didn't take much time
To go through his affairs
And it didn't take much more time to learn
His benefits lay uncashed
In a drawer he always said
No one owes me a dime I didn't earn

Every person
Needs a purpose
An everyday reason to live
No one wants to feel worthless
If you're still dreaming
You've got something to give