Lyrics Page
Coat Of Many Colors
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Oct 31, 2026 updated
Hope of the Broken World album
Verified editorial review
Song Meaning
A box of scrap rags becomes a coat in the memory Selah sings here, stitched together by a mother who "sewed the rags together / Sewin' every piece with love." While she sews she retells a story from the Bible, the one about Joseph and his coat of many colors, so the garment carries both her affection and a piece of Scripture.
The middle of the song turns on the schoolyard. Wearing "patches on my britches / Holes in both my shoes," the child walks in proud and meets laughter. What he reaches for in reply is not a comeback but the love "sewed in every stitch," and he insists that he "felt I was rich." The classmates cannot see it, and the final verse names the gap directly: "one is only poor / Only if they choose to be."
Poverty and wealth swap places in the telling, an idea with deep roots in the New Testament, where God chooses those poor in the world's eyes to be rich in faith. Selah's reading keeps the story small and domestic, leaving the quiet conviction that being loved matters more than being well dressed.
Lyrics Verified by Editorial Team
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 momma put the rags to use
There were rags of many colors
Every piece was small
And I didn't have a coat
And it was way down in the fog
Momma 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 momma blessed it with a kiss
My coat of many colors
That my momma 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 momma made for me
So with patches on my britches
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 momma made for me
And oh I couldn't understand it
For I felt I was rich
And I told them of the love
My momma sewed in every stitch
And I told 'em all the story
Momma 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 momma made for me
Made just for me