I was 11 months old
I was just starting to walk
And Daddy always kept a big stick behind the door just in case
Somebody was to come in that was drunk on moonshine,
You know, and Daddy had to do something about it
Anyway, this woman, we called her old Aunt Boyd,
She come in and she was telling
Mommy about her, uh, husband, she thinks is going out with this woman in
Paintsville
So she reared back with that big stick showing
Mommy how she was going to hit this woman in the head with it
And when she went back with it, she hit me in the head
And Mommy said I cried for 5 days
And she said I, that fifth night,
I had a great big knot that show up right in the middle of my forehead
And, you know, the only thing I remember,
I donât remember no pain, but I just remember Mommy
And Daddy carrying me in this old quilt that Mommy had made out of overhalls
The knots kept getting bigger and bigger so she took me to the doctor
And that stuff called mesitor, something like that
Mommy said it made both ears flat to my face and I ainât got very big ears
And told Mommy that I would, that I was going to die
And that happened like four times so I didnât walk till I was almost 5
It was⌠It was kind of a messâŚ
Oh I forgot about the shoes,
Well shoot, I hadnât⌠Iâd never had a pair of shoes
And Mommy had wentâŚ
Took me to the hospital, you know, to see what that wasâŚ
If they couldnât do something
But they wouldnât keep me because Mommy and Daddy didnât have no money
They just tell âem to take me home and let me die, you know,
Because there wasnât nothing they could do about
That kind of disease, I guess
And, um, Mommy told Daddy,
Says âTed, you take her down the street, you carry her down the streetâŚâ and said,
ââŚlet me try this store here,â and Mommy went in and told them the story that I was dying,
That she had to carry me twelve miles to town
And twelve miles back and that I had no shoes
That place, I think it was Murphyâs 5 and 10 and theyâre still there in Paintsville, Kentucky
And I think that they told Mommy that they wasnât in business to give shoes away
Mommy told Daddy, says, âCarry Loretta on down a little farther,â
Said, âand let me stop in another storeâŚâ
And Mommy went right back to the same store
When the guyâs back was turned she stole these little red shoes
And I remember on the bigâold bridge that went across the river
It went way up high and wasâŚ
Iâve always been scared of that bridge that took me across the big Sandy River
Mommy pulled them out from under that yellow jacket that she was wearing
And she was putting them red shoes on me
And I thought them was the prettiest things I ever saw in my life
And Daddy started crying
And I wondered why
And he said, âClerie, weâre not going to make it home,â
And Mommy put the shoes on me
And Daddy took off running and run all the way ahead tâButcher Holler with me
And Mommy never had a chance to carry me any farther
And thatâs almost twelve miles that Daddy run with me
But Daddy knew that the cops was going to get us
He left Mommy standing and he took off in a dead run
I remember him running but I didnât know what for
And I remember asking Mommy,
âMommy, why is Daddy running?â
I remember her hollering,
âTo put your little red shoes away, honey, when you get home.â
[Laughs]
Can you believe that?
So I wrote a song called âPut My Little Red Shoes Away,â
You know, theyâre my little red shoes and I donât want
âem to get⌠to be dirtyâŚ