Coat of Many Colors

Back through the years

I go wonderin' once again

Back to the seasons of my youth

I recall a box of rags that someone gave us

And how my mama put the rags to use

There were rags of many colors

But every piece was small

And I didn't have a coat

And it was way down in the fall

Mama sewed the rags together

Sewin' every piece with love

She made my coat of many colors

That I was so proud of

As she sewed she told a story

From the Bible she had read

About a coat of many colors

Joseph wore, and then she said

"Perhaps this coat will bring you

Good luck and happiness"

And I just couldn't wait to wear it

And Mama blessed it with a kiss

My coat of many colors

That my mama made for me

Made only from rags

But I wore it so proudly

Although we had no money

I was rich as I could be

In my coat of many colors

My mama made for me

So with patches on my britches

And holes in both my shoes

In my coat of many colors

I hurried off to school

Just to find the others laughing

And making fun of me

In my coat of many colors

My mama made for me

And I couldn't understand it

For I felt I was rich

And I told 'em of the love

My mama sewed in every stitch

And I told 'em all the story

Mama told me while she sewed

And how my coat of many colors

Was worth more than all their clothes

But they didn't understand it

And I tried to make them see

That one is only poor

Only if they choose to be

Now I know we had no money

But I was rich as I could be

In my coat of many colors

My mama made for me

Made just for me 

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"Dolly has described this song on numerous occasions as her favorite of the songs she has written. She composed the song in 1969, while traveling with Porter Wagoner on a tour bus."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KpD2nPSHGo&list=RD0KpD2nPSHGo&start_radio=1

* * *

I think the first time I heard this song it was on a record album my grandmother had of Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters. This would have been in the 1970s. At the time I didn't know it was written by Dolly Parton. I can't find a recording of Wendy Bagwell singing it, but I found an old video of the first time Dolly Parton sang it on TV.