......Tiger

The Old Man
Words and music by Phil Coulter
Performed by John McDermott on his Old Friends CD and Irish Tenors video/CD

The tears have all been shed now,
We've said our last good-byes.
His soul's been blessed,
He's laid to rest,
And it's now I feel alone.
He was more than just a father,
A teacher, my best friend.
He can still be heard
In the tunes we shared,
When we play them on our own.

CHORUS
I never will forget him,
For he made me "what I am."
Though he may be gone,
Memories linger on,
And I miss him, the old man.

As a boy, he'd take me walking
By mountain field and stream,
And he showed me things
Not known to kings,
And secret between him and me,
Like the colors of the pheasant,
As he rises in the dawn,
And how to fish and make a wish,
Beside the holly tree.

CHORUS

I thought he'd live forever,
He seemed so big and strong,
But the minutes fly,
And the years roll by,
For a father and a son,
And suddenly, when it happened,
There was so much left unsaid,
No second chance,
To tell him thanks,
For everything he's done.

CHORUS^^

G.

I miss the old man tonight; I wish he was here with me.
With his corny jokes and his cheap cigar
He could look you in the eye and sell you a car
That's not an easy thing to do
But no one ever knew
a finer man in all this land
Than my old man

He never talked about his war, in France when he was eighteen
The day they put him in a trench was the day he learnt sense
And he never again used violence
He got out of uniform
Came home and married mum, and not so very long after that
He was my old man

I remember the fights we had, my sisters and I got him mad
He'd get all boiled up, he'd sometimes shout
We knew what was coming so we tuned him out
Now the old man's gone
I'd give all I own to know what he said when I wasn't listening
To my old man

I miss the old man tonight, I can almost see his face
He was always trying to watch his weight
But his heart only made it to fifty-eight
For the first time since he died
Late last night I cried
I wondered when I was going to do that
For my old man ^^

MY OLD MAN
(Steve Goodman, 1977 Big Ear Music & Red Pajamas Music)

I miss my old man tonight
And I wish he was here with me
With his corny jokes and his cheap cigars
He could look you in the eye and sell you a car.
That's not an easy thing to do,
But no one ever knew
A more charming creature on this earth
Than my old man.

He was a pilot in the big war In the U.S. Army Air Corps
In a C-47 with a heavy load
Full of combat cargo for the Burma Road.
And after they dropped the bomb
He came home and married Mom
And not long after that
He was my old man.

And oh the fights we had
When my brother and I got him mad;
He'd get all boiled up and he'd start to shout
And I knew what was coming so I tuned him out.
And now the old man's gone,
And I'd give all I own
To hear what he said when I wasn't listening
To my old man.

I miss my old man tonight
I can almost see his face
He was always trying to watch his weight
And his heart only made to fifty-eight.
And for the first time since he died
Late last night I cried.
I wondered when I was gonna do that
For my old man.

rich r ^^

Sorry gang!

Of course there's "Oh, my papa! To me he was so wonderful...Oh, my papa! so funny in his way..." one of Eddie Fisher's (Fischer?) hits. Wonder what's become of Eddie?

Don't look at me like that, young man
Don't look at me that way
I know you see an old man now
An old man bent and grey
Once I was straight and tall, young man
So straight and tall and strong
But now the years have taken toll
And I have lived too long

For life's been hard on me , young man
I started work at forteen years
Straight down the pit for me, young man
The dirt, the damp, the sweat, the tears
When war broke out I left the pit
And joined the army and the fight
It mattered little where I died
Below in darkness - up in light

But I survived the war, young man
With all it's slaughter death and pain
No better life for me, young man
Just down that dark dank hole again
No choice of job for me, young man
With family and bills to pay
So for another twenty years
I fought that coal face every day

And then me lungs gave out, young man
Choked by the damp dust of the mine
A wheezing, coughing, broken man
Crawled to the surface one last time
They say the good die young, young man
Well, my sins must have been too great
For though at times I wished for death
All I could do was sit and wait

And so I sat and sat, young man
Sat by my window every day
My wife went out to work, young man
My family grew and moved away
But I just sat and sat, young man
Trapped inside my infirmity
Watched family and old friends die
And wondered why it wasn't me

And as I sat and watched, young man
The world took on a different face
Where young, like you, they have no time
Where old, like me, they have no place
So when you look at me, young man
Don't see this broken empty shell
See all the things I've seen and done
Hear all the tales I have to tell

Written in memory of my grandfather. An amazing man who, through sheer guts and determination, lived till he was 88.