patches at the dentist – 1970’s

I was a little guy when I needed my first drilling at the dentist. Dental drills weren’t as good then, so it was scary.

The dentist saw me cringing and squirming in the chair. The song “Patches” came on at that moment on a radio he had nearby in the room. He reached over and turned it up loud and sang the lyrics even louder as he started to work.

It was so surreal and funny that I forgot about being scared.

“My papa was a great old man
I can see him with a shovel in his hand
See, education he never had
He did wonders when the times got bad
The little money from the crops he raised
Barely paid the bills we made…”