Matthew (John Denver)                                 him this song is sung. Ridin' on his daddy's      
                                                      shoulders behind a mule beneath the sun.          
I had an uncle name of Matthew, was his father's                                                        
only boy. Born just south of Colby, Kansas, he        [chorus]                                          
was his mother's pride and joy.                                                                         
                                                                                                        
[chorus]:                                                                                               
    Yes and joy was just a thing that he                                                                
    was raised on, Love was just a way to                                                               
    live and die. Gold was just a windy                                                                 
    Kansas wheat field, Blue was just the                                                               
    Kansas summer sky.                                                                                  
                                                                                                        
All the stories that he told me back when I was                                                         
just a lad. All the memories that he gave me,                                                           
all the good times that he had. Growin' up a                                                            
Kansas farm boy, life is mostly havin' fun.                                                             
Ridin' on his daddy's shoulders, behind a mule                                                          
beneath the sun.                                                                                        
                                                                                                        
[chorus]                                                                                                
                                                                                                        
Well I guess there were some hard times, and I'm                                                        
told some years were lean. They had a storm in                                                          
'4 7, a twister came and stripped 'em clean.                                                            
He lost the farm and lost his family, he lost                                                           
the wheat and lost his home, But he found the                                                           
family Bible, a faith as solid as a stone.                                                              
                                                                                                        
[chorus]                                                                                                
                                                                                                        
And so he came to live and our house, and he                                                            
came to work the land. He came to ease my                                                               
daddy's burden, and he came to be my friend. And                                                        
so I wrote this down for Matthew, and it's for