[Verse 1]
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

[Verse 2]
I was a young girl
Raised up bein' 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

[Chorus 1]
Because I saw in him
What he saw 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
[Bridge]
When life is unkind
To mothers and fathers
Their sons and daughters
Often grow up just as hard

[Verse 3]
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

[Chorus 2]
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 that you know how to be
When broken's all you know
It's all that you know how to be