Let’s discuss “That’s My Job” by Conway Twitty

That’s My Job-Conway Twitty

That’s My Job

I woke up crying late at night
When I was very young.
I had dreamed my father
Had passed away and gone.
My world revolved around him
I couldn't lay there anymore.
So I made my way down the mirrored hall
And tapped upon his door.
And I said "Daddy, I'm so afraid
How will I go on with you gone that way?
Don't want to cry anymore
So may I stay with you?"
And he said "That's my job,
That's what I do.
Everything I do is because of you,
To keep you safe with me.
That's my job you see."
Later we barely got along
This teenage boy and he.
Most of the fights it seems
Were over different dreams,
We each held for me.
He wanted knowledge and learning.
I wanted to fly out west.
Said, "I could make it out there
If I just had the fare.
I got half, will you loan me the rest?"
And I said "Daddy, I'm so afraid,
There's no guarantee in the plans
I've made and if I should fail,
Who will pay my way back home?"
And he said "That's my job
That's what I do.
Everything I do is because of you
To keep you safe with me.
That's my job you see."
Every person carves his spot
And fills the hole with light.
And I pray someday I might
Light as bright as he.
Woke up early one bright fall day
To spread the tragic news.
After all my travel, I settled down
Within a mile or two.
I make my living with words and rhyme
And all this tragedy
Should go into my head and out instead
As bits of poetry.
But I say "Daddy, I'm so afraid,
How will I go on with you gone this way?
How can I come up with a song to say
I love you?"
That's my job, That's what I do
Everything I do is because of you
To keep you safe with me.
That's my job you see.
Everything I do is because of you
To keep you safe with me.

Heart wrenching song, for any son or father.

Simple melody but beautiful lyricism.
It speaks to the cyclical nature of fatherhood.
That love sons feel for good fathers, when we are young and daddy is our Superman.
We crave that attention and approval that is sometimes hard to get from the old man because he’s got the pressure of bills and stress. He doesn’t mean to be hard, but he knows if a boy doesn’t have some hardness he’ll grow up soft.!



Then when you come into your teenage years you have your own dreams and aspirations, learning to be your own man, you have to break loose from his shadow and find your own path. You come of age in different worlds and can’t understand fully what the other is experiencing. And so you have to fly and you have to let your boy go. And hope for the best.


And then, if you are lucky, you get to be a father of your own, and finally understand your old man. The joy, the pain, the frustration.

It’s an absolutely beautiful song, real tearjerker.

Enjoy it, and whatever stage in, maybe discuss a bit.

Peace.