Pierce Pettis

Legacy

It is a legacy, it was handed down to me
Of a poor dirt farmer and a skinny mule
He parts the red clay like it was the red sea
It is a legacy to both me and you
You are a black man
I am a white man
We both come from the Southland
Both doing the best we can
Where the grim reaper was my brother’s keeper
The way my brother was kept
Small wonder Jesus wept

It is a legacy passed down to you and me
What we’re taught to believe
We never question these things
It is a legacy, a wild and a bitter seed
Blown across these fertile fields
Where the roots run deep

We both got calloused hands
Blue-collar working men down here in Bubbaland
What’s in a name
Both living rent to rent, some on the government
We are quite different—we are the same

It is a legacy passed down to you and me
What we learn to believe
We never question these things
It is a legacy, a wild and a bitter seed
Blown across these fertile fields
Where the roots run deep

Sundays we congregate
Praise Jesus, pass the plate
Sitting in our Sunday best
Singing hymns and mopping sweat
We learned the golden rule in separate Sunday schools
In a house long divided against itself

And it is a legacy passed down to you and me
What we choose to believe
We dare not question these things
It is a legacy, it’s a wild and a bitter seed
Scattered on these fertile fields
Where the roots run deep

©1989, Pierce Pettis, Let’s-Have-Lunch (ASCAP)

Pierce Pettis After a lifetime of crafting finely-wrought, heart-touching songs, singer-songwriter Pierce Pettis feels that he’s finally found his comfort zone. “The biggest change,” he says of this point in his career “has been getting over myself and realizing this is a job and a craft. And the purpose is not fame and fortune (whatever that is) but simply doing good work.”

His albums include Tinseltown (1991); Chase the Buffalo (1993), Making Light of It (1996), Everything Matters (1998), State of Grace (2001), and Great Big World (2004). Artists including Susan Ashton, Dar Williams, Garth Brooks and Art Garfunkel have recorded Pierce Pettis’ songs.

Pettis lives in Alabama with his wife and their young son. His album, “That Kind of Love” on Compass Records was released in 2009. Please visit Pierce Pettis’ Myspace Music Page, Facebook Music Page, and his new Sonic Bids electronic press kit.
www.piercepettis.com