A rolling stone may gather no moss, but it doesn't handle responsibility well. In this song, the father is an itinerant, disreputable philanderer. When he dies, the mother opens up about him, telling the kids all about his laziness and womanizing.
This was written by the Motown songwriters Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield, and produced by Whitfield. It was first recorded by The Undisputed Truth, but Whitfield also had The Temptations record it, with much greater success.
A story that is often circulated and is recounted in the 2001 miniseries The Temptations deals with the lines of this song: It was the 3rd of September That day I'll always remember 'cause that was the day That my daddy died The story goes that lead singer Dennis Edwards hated the song and was incensed when he heard this line, since his father died on that date and he thought Norman Whitfield put that in to goad him. This tale made for good drama, but was considerably overblown. Edwards' father actually died on October third, and he was anything but a rolling stone. The elder Edwards was a minister who gave his son a good upbringing. Whitfield chose the date simply because it fit well in the song; he had no idea when Edwards' father had died.
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