A Bible and a Belt

They were both made of leather, both black and frayed and worn.
I was brought up to respect them since the day that I was born.
One came here from England; it’s been handed down for years.
The other one was ordered from a catalog at Sears.
One my mamma read to me till I was well into my teens.
I thought all the other one was for was to hold up daddy’s jeans.
Till I told a lie and learned it had another purpose too.
Out behind the shed my daddy said, «This'll hurt me more than you.»
Cause one had my daddy’s name on it, the other said King James.
With love they taught us lessons but we feared them both the same.
One led us to heaven and the other left a welt (hurt like hell)
Those were the days when kids were raised with a bible and a belt.
I remember when I was twelve I stole a dime store comic book.
How Mamma read where the scriptures said to take back what I took.
When I refused my daddy grabbed my arm and said, 'Come on'
I needed more, he knew, than just Matthew, Mark and Luke and John.
Well sometimes they made me cry, sometimes they made me fightin' mad
And I wished I’d been raised without them like some other children had
But now I’m grown with kids of my own and I know just how they felt
You know it seems to me what the world still needs is a bible and a belt.
Cause one had my daddy’s name on it, the other said King James.
With love they taught us lessons but we feared them both the same.
One led us to heaven and the other hurt like hell
Those were the days when kids were raised with a bible and a belt.
A bible and a belt.