
There are songs that impress you — and then there are songs that stay with you.
That’s My Job is firmly in the second category.
When Conway Twitty recorded this song, he wasn’t trying to chase a hit or prove anything. You can hear that right away. His voice is steady, calm, and unforced — like someone who’s lived long enough to know which words matter and which ones don’t.
The song is built around a father talking to his son, but it never feels scripted or sentimental. It feels lived-in. It’s about responsibility, quiet sacrifice, and the kind of love that doesn’t announce itself. The kind that shows up every day, even when no one is watching. Especially then.
What makes “That’s My Job” so powerful is what it doesn’t do. It doesn’t glorify perfection. It doesn’t ask for praise. It simply acknowledges the weight of being there for someone else — of carrying fear so another person doesn’t have to. For many listeners, especially those who’ve been parents, or had parents like this, the song hits close to home in a way that’s almost unsettling.
By the late 1980s, Conway Twitty had nothing left to prove as a singer. That’s why this song lands the way it does. The voice doesn’t reach. It rests. And in that restraint, it tells the truth. Not about being a hero — but about doing the work quietly, because that’s what love sometimes looks like.
Some songs fade when they end.
This one settles in — like a memory you didn’t realize you were still carrying.
Video
Lyrics
I woke up crying late at night
When I was very young
I had dreamed my father
Had passed away and gone
My world revolved around him
I couldn’t lie there anymore
So I made my way down the mirrored hall
And tapped upon his door
And I said “Daddy, I’m so afraid
How will I go on with you gone that way?
Don’t want to cry anymore, so may I stay with you?”
And he said “That’s my job
That’s what I do
Everything I do is because of you
To keep you safe with me
That’s my job you see”
Later we barely got along
This teenage boy and he
Most of the fights it seems
Were over different dreams
We each held for me
He wanted knowledge and learning
I wanted to fly out west
Said, “I could make it out there
If I just had the fare
I got half, will you loan me the rest?”
And I said “Daddy, I’m so afraid
There’s no guarantee in the plans
I’ve made and if I should fail
Who will pay my way back home?”
And he said “That’s my job
That’s what I do
Everything I do is because of you
To keep you safe with me
That’s my job you see”
Every person carves his spot
And fills the hole with light
And I pray someday I might
Light as bright as he
Woke up early one bright fall day
To spread the tragic news
After all my travel, I settled down
Within a mile or two
I make my living with words and rhyme
And all this tragedy
Should go into my head and out instead
As bits of poetry
But I say “Daddy, I’m so afraid
How will I go on with you gone this way?
How can I come up with a song to say I love you?”
That’s my job, That’s what I do
Everything I do is because of you
To keep you safe with me
That’s my job you see
Everything I do is because of you
To keep you safe with me
