

Prompt / Lyrics
[Verse 1] Dear Ma and Pa Hope this finds you By that cracked back door In those same two chairs Still got clay on your boots Red dust in your hair I can see our clothesline Swaying in the evening air [Chorus] I’m doing fine, don’t you worry Got a bed that ain’t made of springs and wire There’s a desk with my name on the roster board And a library that climbs up higher and higher I eat three times a day, the roof don’t leak There’s a coat that keeps me warm come winter time I know we scraped and prayed for every dime But Ma, Pa, I’m doing fine [Verse 2] They talk real fast here Use big long words Sometimes I just listen And don’t say a thing But there’s a girl from the next state Says I sound like home When I laugh too loud And my vowels all cling [Chorus] I’m doing fine, don’t you worry Got my books all stacked by this borrowed light There’s a job in the kitchen that feeds me too And I study till they turn out the lamps at night I walk past brick and glass and ivy walls Thinking how that old barn still leans on pine I miss that road of ruts and rusty signs But Ma, Pa, I’m doing fine [Bridge] Tell little sis that cap and gown Ain’t just for folks from the richer side of town Tell my brothers I carry our name Every time that professor calls it out loud (hey) [Chorus] I’m doing fine, so don’t you worry Every step feels like it’s yours and mine All those patched up coats and skipped hot meals Built a stairway that I’m finally starting to climb Someday I’ll drive back up that gravel lane New tires turning where your hands made mine We’ll sit and laugh beneath that clothesline sky And I’ll say, “We made it” But till that time Ma, Pa, I’m doing fine
Tags
country, Warm 80s country band, male vocals; gently strummed acoustic and clean telecaster twang over a soft two-step groove, brushed snare and light pedal steel. Verses stay intimate and story-focused, chorus swells with rich harmonies and organ pad. Energy arcs from tender, homesick calm into a quietly triumphant, tear-in-the-eye lift on each chorus.
4:39
No
4/18/2026