Ruby Mae

Ruby Mae Lyrics

VERSE 1

Born in the ’20s in Texas to sharecroppers

One day you’ll own property

You’ll live a life that is worthy to write

Yeah, we’re gonna honor you

But before you make it through

The road is windy, it’s rough, it’s hard

The baby your momma is carrying—

Her name is Sue, and this pregnancy’s hard

She went out to fish and fell at the creek

And slipped on her back at 32 weeks

They called up the doc, he say that it’s cool

But she just hope nothing has happened to Sue

Several weeks later, she go into labor

Sue’s number seven—no, something ain’t right

Midwife keep yelling, “Martha, just push!”

She pushing, she praying, “Lord, let her be fine”

She pushing, she praying, “Lord, let her be fine”

Yeah, momma’s a fighter

Just like you, she gave it all that she had

But it took a lot

I’m sorry to say, she don’t recover from that

In losing her, you lose a lot

Yo brothers and sisters, they spread y’all out

And momma was right about Sue—

Something happened in there, she don’t develop like y’all

You drop out of school and go work the field

If you don’t go get it, then nobody will

Raised up your siblings like they was your kids

And kept moving forward while holding back tears

Eventually, you’ll have your own

You’ll make a home out of all of the chaos

My grandpoppa gon’ be a rolling stone

You’ll be the foundation we go off

Depression gon’ try get the best of you

It’s gon’ be a close call—don’t leave us

Lot of us gon’ fall tryna find The Way

You gon’ straighten us back up and lead us

You gon’ lead through shame, lies, hate, doubt, weakness, evil

You gon’ teach us grace, trust, love, faith, strength—Jesus

⸻

HOOK 1

Your love still finds me through pain

Your smile still shines through rain

No matter how far I stray

Your love still finds me anyway

He’s welcomed you in His arms

You’ve placed your heart in His hands

Your love can shine the brightest now

Your soul can fly the highest now

Oh, you can rest

⸻

VERSE 2

I can see you up the street

Bending the block in that ’88 ’Lac

You retired just to look after us

Please know that I am so grateful for that

It feel just like yesterday you pulling up at our school and we hop in the back

Like, “Give Granny sugar”

“My friends is looking, wait till we get round the corner for that”

She laughing

My brother like, “Granny, I’ll kiss you”

He younger—we three years apart

That’s Boo, that’s her heart

Ain’t nothing gon’ tear them apart

Thirty years later, I see what she saw

She throw it in park, we run in the store

Some chips, some candy, a pack of Marlboro

She say, “I should quit,” and then take out a few

And hand me the pack like, “You know what to do—

Hide ’em from Granny, don’t say where you put ’em”

“But Granny, last time you said you was gon’ whoop us”

She say, “Boy stop it, don’t be talking back”

But by the next day, had to give ’em right back

Turn on our block

5 miles an hour, you know that Cadillac glide

All of the other kids looking inside like,

“See, I told you she letting ’em drive”

One time, we ran into the house

And she ain’t even trip, just showed us how to fix it

That lesson was larger than life—

If you take a risk, then prepare to deal with it

She said, “Get your work done, then go play”

South Park, Houston, Texas off Osprey

Showed me how to ride a bike and get my jumper right

Fam first—one fight, then ya all fight

And we fight to the death

I ain’t even gon’ lie

Ain’t nothing that’s alive gon’ kill that

And we bound by blood

I ain’t even gon’ lie

Til this day, I don’t know how Cain did that

What you expect?

Fought her way out of racism, injustice, depression, and poverty

If nobody told you—

Granny, I want you to know that your grandson proud of you

Teacher called my momma like, “Ya son had a fight

We tried to pull ’em off, but he wouldn’t stop”

She say, “Boy, you know better

We don’t teach you this at home

Where you learning this from?

Tell me right now”

I ain’t say a whole lot

Put my head down

She don’t wanna know

Then she said, “I said right now”

Granny said, “If they bigger than you, gotta be quicker

If they catch you, then put ’em in a headlock”

⸻

HOOK 2

Your love still finds me through pain

Your smile still shines through rain

No matter how far I stray

Your love still finds me anyway

He’s welcomed you in His arms

You’ve placed your heart in His hands

Your love can shine the brightest now

Your soul can fly the highest now

Oh, you can rest

You can rest

Well done, good and faithful servant

It was hard, it wasn’t perfect

Want you to know it was worth it

⸻

VERSE 3

You saw the first Black president

Watched in amazement as they swore him in

I remember asking you about Selma

And you said that you and cousin Mary went

Talking how they was charging Black people like triple for food

So y’all fixed up sandwiches, supported the marches

I’m like, “That’s a movie now”

You like, “Oh yeah? That’s nice”

The price that you paid for your life was high

But your investment paying dividends

Remember how me and Boo used to fight?

We don’t fight no more—we like best friends

We talk on the phone every week

I love ’em to life and our kids play together

We remember what you used to tell us:

“Brothers don’t fight each other, fight together”

And Diane is doing amazing

In losing you, she lost a lot

Between your dementia and losing Big Frank, Aunt Anne, and Uncle Chuck

She just dropped

But momma’s a fighter

Just like you, she gave it all that she had

And it took a lot

I’m happy to say she has recovered from that

It’s all back on track

But I know you saw how the family fought

And how we lost the house

But all that aside, we cannot divide

’Cause all of your memories living inside

I still remember that quote that you hung in your room

In the frame with the crack down the side—

“I asked Jesus how much He loves me

‘This much,’

Then stretched out His hands and died”

⸻

HOOK 3

Your love still finds me through pain

Your smile still shines through rain

No matter how far I stray

Your love still finds me anyway

He’s welcomed you in His arms

You’ve placed your heart in His hands

Your love can shine the brightest now

Your soul can fly the highest now

Oh, you can rest

You can rest

Well done, good and faithful servant

It was hard, it wasn’t perfect

Want you to know it was worth it

We carry on in your name

Your words resound in our heart

His Holy Name is proclaimed

We carry on