Find Yourself a Good Woman

(Warm country ballad with a touch of old folk storytelling)

My daddy was known for his easy smile

And the kind of laugh that could calm a child

Worked hard all week on ordinary pay

But somehow he made a good life that way

One evening sittin’ on the porch at dusk

I asked him straight, man to man, just us

“Dad how’d you do it? What’s the secret line?

How’d you build this life so strong and kind?”

He looked at Mama through the kitchen light

Then leaned right back with his eyes shinin’ bright

Said “Son you want the secret to life?

It’s simple boy… get yourself a good wife”

He laughed and tapped those false front teeth

Said “Lost the real ones back in my reckless years”

“In a barroom fight before your mama came

Back when trouble and me were on a first-name basis”

He said find yourself a good woman

One who loves you honest and true

One who sees the man you could become

Before the world ever sees it in you

A good woman steadies the thunder

Turns a lost boy into a man

Son I’ve had a good life

‘Cause your mama took my hand

He said “I used to live for only myself

Didn’t care much ‘bout nobody else

But your mama taught me another way

How to build instead of throw away”

“She made me think beyond tonight

Beyond my pride and beyond a fight

And somewhere along the passing years

I became the man I should’ve been from the start”

Now we got two little houses paid

Kids all grown and a life we made

And when folks fall hard, we help when we can

That’s the kind of wealth that matters to a man

So find yourself a good woman

Don’t chase every flashing light

Find the one who makes you better

Just by standing by your side

The rest works out in time, son

That’s the truth I’ve learned firsthand

You become the man you oughta be

When a good woman takes your hand

Dad smiled soft and looked at Mom

Like he still did after all those years gone by

And I finally understood

The secret wasn’t money…

It was love that stayed