Story Behind The Song

"Sweet Summer Tea" is a nostalgic coming-of-age story about me, young preacher's kid learning some good life lessons, hard work, and humility while laboring on a Tennessee tobacco farm. As a white boy I stood out working alongside these seasoned field hands. Through sweat, laughter, and shared meals, I found freedom, respect, and a lasting memory.

Lyrics

At fourteen I got a job on a tobacco farm in the Tennessee sun.
Southern Baptist preacher's kid, learning how hard work gets done.
Five dollars a day, sunup-to-sundown, and I was thankful for that.
Workin' with grown men in overalls, well-worn wide brimmed hats

At noon we'd hop in the pickup truck and ride up to the farmer's home.
Where every day the Mrs. laid out a feast, like I'd never known.
Fried chicken, hot biscuits, collard greens, corn, and black-eyed peas.
And a great big ice-cold pitcher of her....... Sweet Summer Tea.

We worked on and on, row by row
Long-handled hoes, mud caked on my clothes.
At cuttin' time, hanging Burley high-up in the barn.
Tattooed on my memory, for the first time I felt free
Workin' the fields, drinkin' Sweet.... Summer Tea.

They laughed about their children, the weight of the world they knew,
Wives that held them steady, troubles that they'd gone through.
Rubber boots stuffed with newspapers, makin' do with what they had,
That Field-hand wisdom has stayed with me, I'm glad.

We worked on and on, row by row
Long-handled hoes, mud caked on my clothes.
At cuttin' time, hanging Burley high-up in the barn.
Tattooed on my memory, for the first time I felt free
Workin' the fields, drinkin' Sweet.... Summer Tea.

I was the only white boy, and green as the Burley leaves,
I didn't know then what these men were teachin' me.
But in those fields of plants, mud, sweat, and toil,
I grew into a man, hoe-in-hand, in that rich Tennessee soil.

We worked on and on, row by row
Long-handled hoes, mud caked on my clothes.
At cuttin' time, hanging Burley high-up in the barn.
Tattooed on my memory, for the first time I felt free
Workin' the fields, drinkin' Sweet.... Summer Tea.

At cuttin' time, hanging Burley high-up in the barn.
Tattooed on my memory, for the first time I felt free
Workin' the fields, drinkin' Sweet.... Summer Tea.