Lyrics

Papa's Pliers
Verse 1
November 29th
and the sun's finally shining on
this soggy stretch of ground,
and I know my family's counting on me
turning corn to cash
so I'm counting on the grain cart,
but this thing keeps breaking down.
Laying on the muddy ground
underneath the muddy tractor
with my frozen calloused fingers
fumbling with a frozen fastener.
I gotta get this bolt unstuck
and straighten out these wires.
Thank God I brought my pliers.

Chorus
It's the simplest of tools in a humble leather holster
that I buckle on my belt each day.
Gives a little extra leverage
and the right amount of squeeze,
moving obstacles out of the way….
moving obstacles out of the way….

Verse 2
Just a couple weeks till Christmas
and I'm running late for church.
I got the pickup in the pasture,
checking on the herd.
I see the fence is swinging
with their hoof prints in the snow.
My stomach's in my throat….
where did the cows go?
We tracked them to the south
and with the helping hands of neighbors
we rounded up the cows;
I thanked the neighbors for the favors.
I mended up the fence until my soul and bones were tired.
Just me out there with my pliers.

Chorus
It's the simplest of tools in a humble leather holster
that I buckle on my belt each day.
Gives a little extra leverage
and the right amount of squeeze,
moving obstacles out of the way….
moving obstacles out of the way….

Verse 3
Well, I swore I planted corn
but it's looking more like cactus.
The way the sun has scorched the earth
has very nearly cracked us.
I've spent the day just kickin' round
the crumbs left of our crop,
and dropping to my dusty knees
praying for the drought to stop.
Then one day in July,
there was hope on the horizon.
The clouds came rollin' in
and the first sprinkles were surprising.
We listened to the rain fall on the roof,
I stroked her hair.
I looked right at my wife and said:
"The simple tool of prayer."

Bridge
Some years the rain just won't stop falling down.
Some years I can't grow weeds from the dusty ground.
But I've learned to leverage love,
pray to God and squeeze my family.
This simple farming life's been good to me...

Outro Chorus
Where I use the
simplest of tools in a humble leather holster,
and I always pray to God each day.
Gives a little extra leverage
and the right amount of squeeze,
moving obstacles out of the way….
Moving obstacles out of the way.
Well the whole world could use a pair of papa's pliers
to move obstacles out of the way.

(c) Nick Ehrhardt 2026