Transcribed from here (where you can listen to it as well)
GONE FOREVER (Curtis & Loretta) As recorded by Curtis & Loretta on "Gone Forever" (1999)
Every night when supper was done, Oh, we kids had a chance to run. My dad said: "OK, we've got dishes to do. Mom cooked the food; we're the clean-up crew."
So he stood at the sink and he washed each one. The rest of us dried till they were all done; But now a disease works in his brain. He's forgotten those children who carry his name.
One day as I vacuumed he watched me, then said: "You've done all the work; I've done nothing yet." So I got him a dust rag and he worked with me. He was still an example for this kid to see.
CHORUS: If I think of all the things that I've lost, I can simply not bear the thought. I am gone forever from his memory And he cannot do things he once did for me. When I watch my dad and who he is now, Plagued by Alzheimer's, still, somehow, Through the confusion, his soul shines through. He says: "Come anytime; we love having you."
At the end of the driveway, in the old blue truck, He stopped for a moment, the kids to instruct. He pointed a long finger down the road, First to the east and the west as he told: "To the left is Stillwater; to the right is St. Paul. He taught us directions when we were so small. Now I drive my dad to the new Walmart. Once inside he pushes the cart.
I say: "Dad, at the end of this aisle, turn right." But he just stops, his lips drawn tight. So I point for him, and we both turn that way. He says: "I am sure lucky to be with you today."
CHORUS
He came to recitals to hear me play piano. He came down to the basement to watch puppet shows. He drove to my college to see me in plays, A hundred miles in the big Chevrolet0
"Do you have lots of bookings?" he'd always say. "You are so lucky you can sing for your pay." And now he doesn't know who I am-- Maybe a relation, maybe a friend. "Sit down at the piano and play over there." He sings along from his armchair. He says: "Where did you learn?" and he claps for me, And then he keeps singing that old-time melody.