He was a bastard, even though he knew his daddy
Even had his daddy's angry eyes
Brown as the whiskey that ran through both their veins
I turned eighteen the day I took his name
I was a young girl, raised up being lonely
He was the first boy to look my way
My ticket out mighta took me straight to hell
But I take some of that blame and I shoulder it myself
Because I saw in him, what he saw in me
A broken limb from a crooked family tree
When you got that kind a history, it's hard to break free
When broken's all you know, it's all you know how to be
When life is unkind to mothers and fathers
Their sons and daughter often grow up just as hard
We had a baby and oh I loved him dearly
So I saw clearly the choice that must be made
I hope that family holds him like I couldn't
It was the only way I knew to get him raised
So I wouldn't have to see in him what I see in me
A broken limb from a crooked family tree
When you got that kinda history, it's hard to break free
When broken's all you know, it's all you know how to be
When broken's all you know, it's all you know how to be