Songs about getting really old - 2

Subject: Songs about getting old - 2
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 06:33 AM

Here's a link to part 1 of this old thread that just got revived - it was getting a bit long at nearly 100 posts. But we're all getting older all the ti8me, so it's still relevant enough

And to allow continuity, I have put in the last few posts from part 1:

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Peter T.
Date: 01-Jan-01 - 01:33 PM

I was a lot younger when this thread began (cue for a song!!!!)yours, Peter T.

---

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Lanfranc
Date: 01-Jan-01 - 01:44 PM

Can't believe I missed this thread on its previous iterations, but still, here's my Euro 0.02 worth!

"Old Man's Song" by Randy Newman, recorded by Art Garfunkel among others. It's about a younger man bidding farewell to a dying older man, perhaps his father. Very sad, but a brilliant song.

"Home from the Forest" by Gordon Lightfoot, which I have always reckoned to be the equal of "Streets of London".

"Josephine, for better or for worse" by Dave Cousins of the Strawbs may not be another "Chanson des vieux amants", but handles the same sentiments more simply.

"Bronco Bill's Lament" by Don McLean fits the category.

I don't believe any of the above are in the DT, if anyone's interested, I could remedy this.

---

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Lanfranc
Date: 01-Jan-01 - 01:52 PM

Correction - Home from the Forest is in the DT

---

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: rangeroger
Date: 01-Jan-01 - 02:01 PM

Tom Rush does a great version of Murray McLaughlan's " The Old Man Song".

The Chet Atkins song that jamesjim was looking for back in July, is "I Still Can't Say Goodbye". It is on the CD Chet Atkins,C.G.P.(certified guitar player).

rr

---

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Rowana
Date: 01-Jan-01 - 03:58 PM

There's an old music hall song called My Old Dutch. The singer is remembering his wife when she was a dark haired, fresh cheeked girl of eighteen. Don't remember anything but the chorus:

We've been together now for forty years And it doesn't seem a day too much For there ain't a lady living in this land As I'd swop for me dear old Dutch.

Sentimental but sweet. Dutch = Duchess of Fife = wife.

Rowana



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post - Top - Forum Home - Translate
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Lyr Add: 75 SEPTEMBERS^^
From: Ribbit
Date: 01-Jan-01 - 05:40 PM

Peter Paul, and Mary have a great song "75 Septembers" written by Cheryl Wheeler.


Inthe year of the yellow cab
In the shadow of the great world war
The third child grandma had
Came into the world
On a rolling farm in Maryland
When Wilson was the president
And summer blew her goodbyes through the trees

A child of changing times
Growing up between the wars
The Fords rolled of the lines
The bars all closed their doors
And I imagine you back then
With snap brim hat and farmer's tan
Where the horses drew their wagons through the fields

Chorus
Now the fields are all four lanes
And the moon's not just a name
Are you more amazed at how things change
Or how they stay the same
And do sit here on this porch and wonder
How the time flies by
Or does it seem to barely creep along
With 75 septembers come and gone

Were the fields all gold and fawn
Was the spring house dark and cool
Did the rooster crow at dawn
When they got you up for school
And would you tell me once again
The tales of grandma's hired men
And how they drove the dirt road to town

Repeat chorus





Reminds me a lot of the way my dad grew up.
Thom

---

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Genie
Date: 16-Feb-02 - 05:51 AM

Years From Now
Where've You Been?
Love, Me
Old Love
A Daisy A Day

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Little Hawk
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 02:01 PM

The entire Bob Dylan album "Time Out of Mind", and the song "Things Have Changed".

- LH

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Allan S
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 02:16 PM

Silver threads among the gold, When you and I were young Maggie I told my MD that old age is a disease that is caught by hanging around old people. All my friends have gotten older and as a result so have I. Strange he didn't believe me.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Don Firth
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 02:45 PM

Those were the Days, Yesterday When I was Young, When I was Seventeen (That was a Very Good Year, Oft in the Stilly Night, all kinds of stuff, folk and non-folk. How about The Days of Forty-Nine?

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Chicken Charlie
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 04:34 PM

Depending on how you look at it, "There is a Tavern in the Town." Just to be semi-facetious.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Joe_F
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 07:04 PM

"Love's Old Sweet Song".
Bok's "Turning in the Morning" (if only he had stuck to one metaphor).

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Cobble
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 07:45 PM

Bit ironic for me today, i've just learned a good friend of mine late seventies Died on Friday. Sorry to but in on the thread, just seemed strange at the time.

Cobble.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Kaleea
Date: 17 Feb 02 - 01:02 AM

I just can't stand "When You & I Were Young Maggie", but that's often requested! Want No Silver Threads Among the Gold, but the Mills Brothers sang: Want no silver threads, want some action instead!

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST,Boab
Date: 17 Feb 02 - 04:02 AM

----"Gather up yer pots and yer ould tin cans, the mash [gasp!] the corn, the barley and the bran, rin like the Divil from the [gasp---] Oh shit--get me a chair------"

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 17 Feb 02 - 04:15 PM

Cobble, sorry to hear that! Yes, I suppose we're getting near that age ... I had a couple of similar experiences during these last few months. One song I've always found comforting, although others might call it depressing, is 'What's the Life of a Man' (any more than a leaf). It was mentioned in the previous thread, and I think the words are in the DT. Hoping to see you soon, Brian!

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Deda
Date: 17 Feb 02 - 07:02 PM

Kisses sweeter than wine is one of those that looks back at a long life. Also The cat's in the cradle looks back at one's younger days. These may have been in the firs tpart of this thread, which I missed.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: John Hindsill
Date: 17 Feb 02 - 07:35 PM

Lessee, I seem to remember a couple of titles from the 1950s---Too Old to Cut the Mustard Anymore and Too Pooped to Pop. I'm too old to remember much about either one. The titles were based on contemporary slang.

Subject: Lyr Add: OLD FRIENDS (from Simon & Garfunkel)
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 14 Feb 03 - 12:36 PM

Having come inhere from an "HTML" thread, and having read the first half of this thread, I thought it might help to quote A & G's Old friends

(the words have been 'corrected' from those seen at the above site, based on personal memory of the words!)

Old Friends, Old Friends, Sat on their park bench like bookends
A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes, of the high shoes, of the old friends

Old Friends, Winter companions the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settle like dust, On the shoulders of the old friends

Can you imagine us years from today
Sharing a park bench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy.

Old Friends, Memory brushes the same years
Silently sharing the same fears

Old friends.....

Nigel

Subject: Lyr Add: I'VE GATHERED THEM IN (OLD GRAVE DIGGER)
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 14 Feb 03 - 02:53 PM

What happens when the grave digger grows old? His shovel has been replaced with a machine. Or will graveyards become obsolete alltogether?

This is a great song for a base or base baritone. Sing with great seriousness and frown at those who titter.
The sheet music opens with tolling bells.

Lyr. Add: I've Gathered Them In (The Old Grave Digger)

I've gathered them in, from the rich and the poor,
I've gathered them in, still there's room for more.
The tolling bell tells me now they come,
I've dug it deep and my duty I've done;
I've dug them deep thro' the snow and rain,-
Death comes and goes, and comes again,
And my spade and my pick thro' the churchyard have been
And still I'm left to gather them in.

Refrain 1.
I have seen the widows tears, Rolling down her cheeks so thin,
And the father, gray with years, Still I'm left to gather them in.
I'm here! I'm here! I'm here to gather them in.

I've gathered them in, now they lay side by side,
The father, the mother, the child, the bride.
Yes, all soon will come to the grave diggers inn;
The rich, the poor, He will gather them in.
I've dug them deep, and I've been well-paid.
Ah! Many souls to rest I've laid;
My spade and my pick thro' the churchyard have been
And still I'm left to gather them in.

Refrain 2.
Oh, I've seen the orphaned child, Mourning for its only kin,
Weeping, praying, nearly wild, Still I'm left to gather them in.
I'm here! I'm here! I'm here to gather them in.

Words and music by C. A. White. Sheet music at American Memory. To be sung Andante, the refrains "with feeling."

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: BuckMulligan
Date: 14 Feb 03 - 03:15 PM

Michael Smith's "The Dutchman"
Prine's "Hello In There" & "Angel From Montgomery"

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST,Lloyd F
Date: 14 Feb 03 - 04:05 PM

Two examples from Broadway shows proclaiming the up-side of aging:
"No Time at All" from 'Pippin' (S. Schwartz)
and
"Thank God I'm Old" from 'Barnum'(Coleman, Stewart)

Favorite line from the former:
"Give me a man who is handsome and strong
someone who's stalwart and steady
give me a night that's romantic and long,
and give me a month to get ready."

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Feb 03 - 02:49 AM

"Old Friends"--Mary McCaslin

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: chouxfleur
Date: 15 Feb 03 - 02:57 AM

'Silver in the Stubble' by Sidney Carter. Been singing it for years, sadly more appropriate nowdays.
Chorus goes

And the leaves are growing greener
Spring is on the way
Girls are growing prettier
And younger every day.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: fogie
Date: 15 Feb 03 - 05:38 AM

I think "I'll take you home again Kathleen" is about age , but it might be about illness??

Subject: Lyr/Chrods Add: BAY OF FUNDY (Gordon Bok)
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 15 Feb 03 - 02:54 PM

Extracted from the DT, known by many I'm sure.




BAY OF FUNDY
(Gordon Bok)
(A) Am Dm / Dm C G / F C / Dm Am

All you Maine-men, proud and young,
When you run your Easting down,
Don't go down to Fundy Bay,
She'll wear your time away.

Fundy's long and Fundy's wide,
Fundy's fog and rain and tide;
Never see the sun or sky,
Just the green wave going by.

C G / G Am

Cape Sable's horn blows all day long;
Wonder why, wonder why.

Oh, you know, I'd rather ride
The Grenfell Strait or the Breton tide,
Spend my days on the Labrador,
And never see old Fundy's shore,

All my days on the Labrador,
And never see old Fundy's shore.

Cape Sable's horn blows all day long;
Wonder why, wonder why.

Give her staysail, give her main,
In the darkness and the rain;
I don't mind the wet and cold,
I just don't like the growing old.

I don't mind the wet and cold,
I just don't like the growing old.

Cape Sable's horn blows all day long;
Wonder why, wonder why.

East-by-North or East-North_East,
Give her what she steers the best;
I don't want the foggy wave
To be my far and lonely grave.

I don't want the foggy wave
To be my far and lonely grave.

Cape Sable's horn blows all day long;
Wonder why, wonder why.

Cape Breton's bells ring the swells;
Ring for me, ring for me.

Words and music by Gordon Bok.
Recorded by Gordon on "Bay of Fundy," FSI-54
Copyright Folk Legacy Records, 1977
DC
"This is about a long and weary, windless trip from Maine around
to Halifax on a little black schooner that seemed to move only by
the slatting of her gear. We had a coal stove in her, and the
foresail used to downdraft onto the charlienoble, turn the stack
into an intake and the cabin into a chimney. So, with the
coalgas and the wet, the offwatch was not much more comfortable
than the deadwatch." - GB

@sailor @water
filename[ FUNDYBAY

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: harvey andrews
Date: 15 Feb 03 - 03:17 PM

I don't like it here
It's cold and it's lonely and the light has gone
I still remember when it always shone
Shone on my very, very special one
But now she's gone and

I don't like it here
Day after day the empty hours to fill
Day after day the hours grow on their bill
Me, I sit silent as an act of will
Remembering still
Remembering still

When I wasn't here
I had the morning and the clear blue sky
I raced the river as the sun climbed high
Made love in shadow where we used to lie
My love and I....my love...and

I don't like it here
They talk like we're children in a nursery
For we are old and such a mystery
Locked in the prison of a history
They'll never see

And I don't like it here
Waiting for god to come and find my door
And when he does, my god, he'll get what for
I've been the bull he's been the matador
...the picador...toreador.

When I wasn't here
I had the morning and the clear blue sky
I raced the river as the sun climbed high
Made love in shadow where we used to lie
My love and I....my love...and

I don't like it here
It's cold and it's lonely and the light has gone
I still remember when it always shone
Shone on my very, very special one
But now she's gone and….
I don't like it here

Subject: Lyr Add: THE CENTURION (Harvey Andrews)
From: harvey andrews
Date: 15 Feb 03 - 03:20 PM

(I know it should be called "The Centenarian" but he soldiered through the century so I called him the CENTURION.)

I was born in 1900. Victoria was queen.
The first of seven children; only three made sweet sixteen.
It was hard but it was happy. It was roses around the door,
'Till we all saluted father as he went of to the war.
I was tea boy in the factory the day the news arrived
Making mother one more widow but together we survived.

CHORUS: Now the century is over. I watched it wax and wane
And as I recall it, all in all, it’s a life I’d live again.

At 18 I was courting. Mary filled my heart with pride.
20 saw us married, stepping out there side by side.
The work was never easy but we did it day by day,
Saving halfpennies and farthings till we'd ten pounds put away.
Then the slump took jobs and savings and I had a lot of time,
So I learned the old mouth organ --“Buddy, can you spare a dime?” CHORUS

With 2 sons fast a-growing, 1925,
Mary wanted so a daughter, but her health it didn't thrive.
She died that distant summer, but our daughter made it through,
Until the influenza took her at the age of two.
In the 30's I was busy, like all other folk, deprived.
Picking coal from off the slagheaps, my two sons and me survived. CHORUS

'36 and I met Lucy. We were married in the spring.
The boys were new apprenticed, and we didn't fear a thing.
It was hard but it was happy. It was roses around the door,
Till we both saluted my sons as they went off to the war.
I lost one in the navy, a convoy in the med.
Once again for king and country our name numbered with the dead. CHORUS

The other lad was lucky, and in 1945,
Me and Lucy lit a candle, giving thanks he was alive.
I turned 50 then and wondered what the future held in store.
I'd work on to the pension if we all avoided war.
Soon my son walked down the aisle with a sweet girl as his bride.
She made me think of Mary as she stood there by his side. CHORUS

I retired in the 60's to a bungalow downtown,
Did the gardening with Lucy till the years just wore her down.
I lost her then with sorrow, but remember her with joy,
And I’ll take her flowers tomorrow when I go there with the boy,
For he is a fine great grandson, wears his cap the wrong way round,
And what I bought with a farthing seems to cost the kid a pound.

And he asks me have I really lived the century?
And I wink and whisper "really" and that's good enough for me.

I was born in 1900. Victoria was queen.
The first of seven children; only three made sweet sixteen.

Subject: Lyr Add: AN OLD FACE (Harvey Andrews)
From: harvey andrews
Date: 15 Feb 03 - 03:36 PM

AN OLD FACE

Milly has an old face
She calls it her new face
Milly has an old face
Showing all its years
Remembering the heartaches
Harsh words and remakes
Treasuring the keepsakes
That help to hide the fears

Yes, Milly has an old face
Smiling at the retraced
Memory of an embrace
That was always there
When life was something grown in
Love was sometimes thrown in
But never ever shown in
A place with others near

In old eyes the young girl dances
Takes her chances
While she may
And in old eyes
The young man watches
As time notches one more day

And Billy has an old face
Moving at an old pace
Not afraid of disgrace
Bringing up the rear
Taking time for musing
Not afraid of losing
Happy in his choosing
To be a mutineer

Yes, Billy has an old face
Living in an old place
Searching for the misplaced
Memories very dear
Telling all the tall tales
Storm wind and sea gales
Lost oars and torn sails
Till the glass said clear

In old eyes, the young girl dances
Takes her chances
While she may
And in old eyes
The young man watches
As time notches one more day

In the mirror there's an old face
Waiting for the young face
In the mirror there's an old face
Showing all its years
We'll remember our heartaches
Harsh words and remakes
We'll treasure the keepsakes
That help to hide our fears

When we're an old, old face
With lines like the finest lace
Folded in times embrace
Proud of our old, old face

When we're an old, old face
With lines like the finest lace
Folded in time's embrace
Proud of our old, old face

Subject: Lyr Add: I FEEL THAT OLD AGE COMING ON (W Harris)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 Dec 03 - 10:33 PM

Wynonie Harris wrote and recorded a jump blues song called I FEEL THAT OLD AGE COMING ON, during the period 1947-49, but I only have one verse of that song, transcribed from a sound sample:

I can tell by the look in my baby's eyes,
Can't get along with those younger guys.
All I do is pace the floor
Got a feelin' my baby don't want me no more
And I feel that old age comin' on.

Subject: Lyr Add: I FEEL THAT OLD AGE CREEPIN' ON
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 Dec 03 - 10:36 PM

Homer & Jethro's song seems to be based on Wynonie Harris', but they have done more than write a parody of it. They have reworked the tune a bit, and they use the refrain twice in every verse.

Lyrics transcribed from the sound file at http://www.geocities.com/u2page5/

I FEEL THAT OLD AGE CREEPIN' ON
(As sung by Homer & Jethro)

I can tell by the look in my baby's eyes,
I can't keep up with the younger guys.
I feel that old age creepin' on.
All I do is walk the floor;
Can't do my homework any more.
I feel that old age creepin' on.

Been around too many years,
Too durn old to shift my gears.
I feel that old age creepin' on.
Gonna have my crankcase drained,
Get my oil and water changed.
I feel that old age creepin' on.

Me an' my gal in the Model T,
She looked over and said to me,
"I feel that old age creepin' on."
Little darlin', don't you tire
If my engine should backfire.
I feel that old age creepin' on.

I'm like a flower without a stem,
Started runnin' on my rim.
I feel that old age creepin' on.
I need a coat of Simonize.
All my tires are Vulcanized.
I feel that old age creepin' on.

Young men under twenty-five
All have hydromatic drive.
I feel that old age creepin' on.
I used to be young an' full of zip,
But now my clutch is startin' to slip.
I feel that old age creepin' on.

[Recorded by Homer & Jethro on "Musical Madness," 1958; "Cornier Than Corn," 1963; "The Best of Homer & Jethro," 1969; and "The Best of: Hall of Fame 2001," 2002.]

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Mudlark
Date: 11 Dec 03 - 01:01 AM

Harvey...Having just come from a few days in a rehab center filled mostly with the very old, many senile, your "I don't like it in here" really hit home. Great song.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: harvey andrews
Date: 11 Dec 03 - 05:43 AM

many thanks.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: mooman
Date: 11 Dec 03 - 06:27 AM

Don't know if it was mentioned in the original thread but Kevin Evans's "The Orchard" (recorded by Sean Tyrell and others) is amongst my favourites.

Peace

moo

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST,Big Jim from Jackson
Date: 11 Dec 03 - 09:10 AM

John Williamson from Australia has a great song about his Grandfather called "Old Lou".
"Grandfather's Clock" has the element of growing old in it. Eric Bogle has a number of songs about old people. He has a song about an old farmer (The Cockie?); a song about an old lady who dies alone in her appartment (can't recall the title); a song about an old soldier visiting the grave of a fallen comrad and thanking him (A Gift of Years? There are a bunch more out there.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: banjo1925
Date: 11 Dec 03 - 09:22 AM

I remember the time when I thought the song "When I'm Sixty-Four" referred to someone old. I don't see it that way anymore!

The Irish song, "Fiddler's Green" is very poignant(?)in it's reference to an old fisherman.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Snuffy
Date: 11 Dec 03 - 09:36 AM

Ireland now stretches as far as the Humber?

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST, GEST
Date: 11 Dec 03 - 09:34 PM

Let's hear it for the retired sailors who are getting really old down at the Sailor's Rest by Stan Rogers.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST,barry x
Date: 12 Dec 03 - 09:16 PM

"Little Old Log Cabin inthe Lane"

Surely someone mentioned Charlie Poole's "Old and in the Way" in the fiorst thread...

"Silver Haired Daddy of Mine?

and my best to all from a long-time lurker,

Barry

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: joe hill
Date: 13 Dec 03 - 06:49 AM

Adrian May has done some hilarious songs about growing old, including 'Middle aged fools in love', 'Teenager of 39', 'The gap', and 'Rockin Senile delinquent'.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: freda underhill
Date: 13 Dec 03 - 07:07 AM

hi

I'm a new mudcatter.

there's an old Australian folk song about an old shearer - it starts "I'm one of the has beens, a shearer I mean" and tells the story of a shearer who used to be the best when he was young, but who shears quietly in the corner now .. just telling his story.

fred

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 13 Dec 03 - 06:41 PM

Has Judy Small / Alison Lyssa's 'Much Too Much Trouble' been mentioned?

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: cobber
Date: 13 Dec 03 - 06:57 PM

Yeah, Judy's Much too much trouble is a real classic. Like someone before, we used to sing Silver in the stubble like it was somewhere in the future but reality has caught up with most of us old folkies so," If any girl would have me, she'd only have to say. I'd hang my halo on a hook until another day". Other little rhymes come to mind.
I think I'm getting older
My pilot light's gone out
What used to be my sex appeal
Is now my water spout
I used to get embarrassed
Trying to make the thinjg behave
For early every morning
It would stand and watch me shave
But now I'm getting older
It sure gives me the blues
To have the thing hang down my leg
And watch me shine my shoes.

A mate of mine's father also wrote this when he was in hospital, shot up during WW2.At least I think he did.
For the last fifty years I've been buggered
With All sorts of horrible pains
From piles and flaming great ulcers
To stitches and varicose veins
I spend all my time at the doctor's
Or lying in hospital beds
And the stuff that I took for my stomach
Has ripped my poor backside to shreds
I've got terrible pains in my backbone
I've got bunions and corns on my feet
And the stones that come out of my kidneys
Are like flamin' great lumps of concrete
But I guess I"ll just have to keep living
Despite increasing pains in my head
But my friends often shake their heads sadly
Saying,"Time the old bastard was dead"

(I should point out that bastard is officially (as inh tested in the courts) a term of endearment in Australia

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Dec 03 - 10:53 AM

Three that come to mind - all quite irreverant. 'Ramblin' Rover' - a Scots song (I should know who wrote it but it's slipped my mind for now) not so much about getting old but advising to enjoy it while yu can! A song that I remember Iain McIntosh singing 'Waltzing around in the nude' (first verse starts ... 'Edna was eighty years old yesterday. She's older and greyer, but then so am I. All of our married life, all of our days, we've started each morning the very same way ... we go waltzing around in the nude ...' It gets quite bizarre in places.

The third song I would love someone to supply words to. Sung by Ray Fisher and written, I think, by a singer from Southampton it tells the story of an old man stuck in a high rise flat who makes sure that out of sight is not out of mind. Familiar to anyone?

Subject: Lyr Add: MUCH TOO MUCH TROUBLE
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 14 Dec 03 - 07:33 PM

Ramblin' Rover is one of Andy M. Stewart's, who is - in his own way - no less funny than his M.-less namesake. Waltzing Around In The Nude was written by Dick McCormack. This is Iain's version.
Sorry I can't help with the third one.

As the Judy Small song I mentioned earlier doesn't seem to be in the Forum, here are the lyrics:

MUCH TOO MUCH TROUBLE
(words Judy Small & Alison Lyssa / tune Judy Small)

Chorus:
And it's off, off out of my sight
Your grey hair's all wrinkled, you look such a fright
The bed's wet, you wander, you catch the wrong bus
You're much too much trouble to stay here with us

I'm not as young now as I wanted to be
The rest of the world's getting younger than me
Old mum had the garden and jobs till she died
And fisherman dad he went out with the tide
They've saved my old life just to push me aside

I know I'm not easy to care for nowadays
I get so confused and my memory strays
It seems that the years have rolled on past my door
And I just haven't noticed like I used to before
And at times I'm too tired to try any more

What's the use of not dying till eighty or more
They said I was useless at seventy-four
You'd like your own kitchen, a cuppa, a pie
You'd like your own bed when you wanted to die
And meanwhile well one of the kids might drop by

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: NH Dave
Date: 15 Dec 03 - 10:14 AM

Perhaps, "Get up and go" or "The Bosotn Burglar".

Dave

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Compton
Date: 15 Dec 03 - 03:44 PM

How about the Tommy Armstrong (Newcastle) song , I remember Louie Killen singing.."Me Hair it turns Grey"
Last Saturday Neet,by the Banks of the Dee,
I met an old miner, in distress, I could see,
I sat down beside him and to me he did say,
I can't get employment, for me haior , it turns grey,
etc.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Charley Noble
Date: 16 Dec 03 - 09:27 AM

One of my old Michigan friends put together this "extra" verse to Bill Staine's "Roseville Fair":

The years go by and time's now left us,
Your face is lined and your hair is gray,
But I'll tell you again how much I love you,
With this simple song in the same old way.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST,Puffenkinty
Date: 16 Dec 03 - 11:39 AM

"John Anderson, My Jo", the original,
unexpurgated version by Bobby Burns. The old guy can't
perform very well, but his old lady loves him
anyway.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: mooman
Date: 16 Dec 03 - 11:50 AM

Another one I particularly like is the Geordie song ... A' Cud' Hew

Peace

moo

Subject: Lyr Add: MEMORY
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 05:45 AM

Here's one about the selective and uncontrolled nature of memory as we get older:

MEMORY

By the window he lights up a smoke, and hides it in his palm.
Carefully now, for he doesn't want to set off the alarm.
And is it smoke that brings the tear in his eye, or is it just regret
For the things he can't remember and the things he can't forget?

Faces and voices swim in his head and all is just a blur.
Moments of happiness and hours of shame his memory still share,
And he can't tell which of the faces he loved, to which he owes a debt
For the things he can't remember and the things he can't forget.

Memory 's not a blessing, only a curse, as life piles on the years.
The things you want to keep so quickly disperse and left are only fears.

One of the faces was close to his heart, but can't recall the name.
Was it a relative or was it a friend? He feels that he's to blame.
He knows he told her that she looked good in red, he tries so hard and yet
There are things he can't remember, there are things he can't forget.

Noises of battle mix with cries for help – it must have been the war.
But is the screaming face haunting his dreams one of a friend, or foe?
And though his mind he trawls he cannot control what gets caught in the net;
There are things he can't remember, there are things he can't forget.

(instrumental break)

It's getting light, the nurse will come soon; it's time for morning pills.
Puts out the stub and gathers his robe against the winter chills.
And as he shuffles back, they shuffle behind and follow him to bed
All the things he can't remember, and the things he can't forget.

My aunt died last year after 8 awful years of Alzheimers. Now my own father, at 86, is starting to lose his memory and I hate to see it. He was the one I was thinking of, writing this.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Ivan
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 06:02 AM

Subject: Lyr Add: OLD SUMMER WINE
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 07:41 AM

Old Summer Wine

All lined up in lawn chairs under the trees
Lost in their thoughts and their old memories
They've outlived their friends and their enemies
They're the last of the line, and they're taking their time
But their minds are as clear as old summer wine

Some worked the pulpit, some worked the fields
Some spent their lives building automobiles
Some stretched the money to make the next meal
They're the last of the line, and the're taking their time
But their minds are as clear as old summer wine

Their children are grown now with kids of their own
They've all left the farms and they've moved to the town
And they say it don't hurt when they don't come around
They're the last of the line, and they're taking their time
But their minds are as clear as old summer wine

by Jerry Rasmussen written in part in a dream one day, remembering a family reunion in the park, with my uncles and aunts all ined up in lawn chairs under a large tree at the local park.

Subject: Lyr Add: BABA (George Papavgeris)
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 03 Apr 04 - 08:43 AM

You buggers...this thread caused me to write another one, just now, fully for my father this time - something I have struggled to do for a couple of years but for some reason could not. It doesn't have a tune yet, though I bet it will by nightfall. Nobody has seen it yet, not my wife or daugher who usually vet my output. So here it goes to Mudcat - because you provided the inspiration.

BABA
George Papavgeris, 3rd April 2004

He was ten times the man I could ever hope to be;
A hero to this child, like a giant over me.
Where is the muscle now? And where is the looming height?
Where is the booming voice? Surely this cannot be right?
The eyes that sparkled like the stars, why do they look so dim?
Don't do this to my father, Lord, I beg you, no, not him!

The fingers that taught mine double-knotting my first tie
Disfigured now and bent, injured birds that cannot fly
The face that looked so proud when he read my first report
The smoothly shaven cheeks, now why do they look so scored?
So firm and gentle was his hold the day I learned to swim
Don't do this to my father, Lord, I beg you, no, not him!

The lips that drank my tears struggle just to take a sip
The arms that held my fears wrapped against the evening nip
The hand that steadied mine now is trembling in its turn.
The brittle voice still trying to teach things I will never learn.
The smile that shone the sun on me, why does it look so grim?
Don't do this to my father, Lord, I beg you, no, not him!

A lifetime of love such an ending should not earn,
All hapiness abaft, and all misery astern.
For if there is a Hell, how can it be worse than this?
The music of his breath, now just a laboured hiss…
The tree that one time stood so tall, now just a withered fern…
Please let the candle burn, my Lord, please let the candle burn!

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: iancarterb
Date: 04 Apr 04 - 12:18 AM

I have a soft spot for September Song, but the shortest songs I know are MacTavish is Dead, which Frank Warner often opened with, and one I never heard a recording of but learned instantly at a Burl Ives concert 50 years ago when my memory was better:
My liver, my legs, my lights and my lungs,
They're paining me, they're paining me,
And my heart is sad and my breath is bad
And I think I'm going crazy.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Joe_F
Date: 04 Apr 04 - 07:34 PM

I once was a Maid, tho' I cannot tell when,
And still my delight is in proper young men:
Some one of a troop of Dragoons was my dadie,
No wonder I'm fond of a Sodger Laddie.

[some other stanzas worth learning]

And now I have lived -- I know not how long,
And still I can join in a cup and song;
But whilst with both hands I can hold the cup steady,
Here 's to thee, My Hero, My Sodger Laddie.

-- Burns, "Love and Liberty -- A Cantata"

It's sugarin' time up country, but never once again
Shall I, now nighton eighty, see the spring a-comin' in
The old way, through the maple trees, acrost the pastures brown;
For I must stay, in sugarin' time, on Beacon Street in town.
The children no more, as of old, shall I tuck in at night,
Their little feet so tired, their hearts so happy light.
They wouldn't go back there if they could, and I'm too old, they say;
An' since Josiah isn't there, I let them have their way.
It's sugarin' time up country, though, an' memories, like the sap,
Start up and set me longin' for Mother Nature's lap,
An' him an' Jim -- the farm, the hens, the horses in the stall.
I wisht Josiah an' me was back, a-workin' hard an' all.

-- Helen Winslow, "In Sugarin' Time", set to music by Margaret Macarthur, last stanza

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Zany Mouse
Date: 04 Apr 04 - 07:43 PM

Geoff and Babs Boughton used to sing one about still loving (etc.!) in old age. Great song and I would love to learn it but can't find it anywhere. Can anyone help?

At the grand old age of 52 I feel it is getting more and more appropriate.

The only words I can remember from it is:

"As long as you're able to wind up me clock
there's no need for to worry."

Rhiannon

Subject: Lyr Add: MY GET UP AND GO (Pete Seeger)
From: MickyMan
Date: 04 Apr 04 - 09:23 PM

Peter and Lou Berryman have a hilarious new song called "Older than Everybody". I have the words in a file somewhere and I'll add them soon, but just buy their CD anyway. It's that good!

How about the folkie standard MY GET UP AND GO (HAS GOT UP AND WENT) Words pasted below from Digitrad

MY GET UP AND GO (HAS GOT UP AND WENT)

How do I know my youth is all spent?
My get up and go has got up and went
In spite of it all, I'm able to grin
When I think of the places my get up has been

Old age is golden, I think I've heard said
But sometimes I wonder as I crawl into bed
My ears in a drawer, my teeth in a cup
My eyes on the table until I wake up

As sleep dims my vision, I say to myself
Is there anything else I should lay on the shelf?
But nations are warring and business is vexed
So I'll stick around to see what happens next

cho.

When I was younger, my slippers were red
I could kick up my heels right over my head
When I was older my slippers were blue
But still I could dance the whole night thru

Now I am old, my slippers are black
I huff to the store and I puff my way back
But never you laugh, I don't mind at all
I'd rather be huffing than not puff at all

cho

I get up each morning and dust off my wits
Open the paper and read the obits
If I'm not there, I know I'm not dead
So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed

words trad, melody Pete Seeger
from the singing of Jens Wennberg of Ithaca NY
@age
filename[ GETUPGO
TUNE FILE: GETUPGO
CLICK TO PLAY
SOF

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: MickyMan
Date: 04 Apr 04 - 09:35 PM

Wow! I just read through El Greko's entry of the song he wrote for his father this morning. What a powerful, heartfelt, offering! This, my friends, is certainly what mudcatting is all about.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 05 Apr 04 - 04:00 AM

You are too kind, Micky...but thanks!
There is now a tune to the lyrics also. It took several iterations and discarded tunes, but I think I have settled on one that fits the sentiments...If anyone is interested, please PM me your email address and I will send you an MP3 of it - once I have put it on record (2-3 weeks).

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: LindsayInWales
Date: 05 Apr 04 - 11:09 AM

What about "Never Wed An Old Man" (He's got no faloorum....)
and Eric Bogle's "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" about the Australian soldiers at Gallipoli - particularly this verse:

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Re-living old dreams and past glory
And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore
The tired old heroes of a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question.

(the storyteller, of course, cannot march as he lost both legs at Gallipoli)

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: LindsayInWales
Date: 05 Apr 04 - 11:18 AM

and of course there is an old song that Leslie Sarony used to sing, called "Isn't It Grand To Be Bloody Well Dead" !!

Let's not have a sniffle
Let's have a bloody good cry
And always remember the longer you live
The sooner you bloody well die!

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST,elle
Date: 06 Jul 04 - 02:26 AM

try looking up Bryan Bowers- just an old wood house down the road

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 06 Jul 04 - 02:41 AM

I would modestly call your attention to one of mine called South Street Waltz.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST,elle
Date: 06 Jul 04 - 02:50 AM

The title of the Bryan Bowers recording is "Stately Mansions" the first line of which is

I was once a stately mansion

The last line is

I'm just an old wood house down the road

It's been about 20 years since I've heard the song and well--- memory fades with age---I don't remember which recording it's from, I'll see if I can get more info.
John Prine recorded "Hello In There" the refrain goes-

Old trees just keep growing stronger
And old rivers get wilder every day
But old people just get lonesome
Waiting for someone to say
Hello in there
Hello

Subject: Lyr Add: OVER THE HILL (Rik Trebus)
From: jacqui.c
Date: 06 Jul 04 - 07:31 AM

A friens of mine, Rik Trebus, has finally allowed me to put this on the 'Cat. It's sung to the tune of Over the Hills and Far Away. It fits nicely on this thread.

OVER THE HILL

Now I weren't told when I was young
That growing old it ain't no fun
When your waistline hangs below your knee
And it takes you an hour to have a pee

Ch: Now I'm over the hill and I'm growing old
    Losing my teeth and going bald
    My favourite drink is a cup of tea
    Now I'm over the hill and seventy three

I go to the chemist to get some pills
And other things for all my ills
And then I get a load of smiles
When I ask for some cream to fix my piles

Ch

When I was young I was Jack the lad
With stories of the girls I'd had
But now that I can no longer see
All I get is grannies chasing me

Ch

Now there's something that really makes me sad
And that's when I forget my continence pad
There's a constant trickle that fills my shoes
I suppose I should be grateful it's not number twos

Ch

As for sex I've just had a peep
Just like me it only wants to sleep
And there's not much more I want to say
Except that you will all end up this way

Ch

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Bert
Date: 06 Jul 04 - 09:24 AM

Two great songs there El Greko.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Carol
Date: 06 Jul 04 - 11:31 AM

The Old Lady's Song by Matt Armour - the chorus goes :-
She remembers the boys going to war in 14
the strike the depression, hard years inbetween
the Normandy landings, the Victory Parade
Just can't recall yesterday

I 'makes me cry'

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Word Man
Date: 19 Jul 06 - 11:26 PM

Any body got a copy of The Siegel Schwall Band? I've been trying to find it for twenty five years.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST,Rowan
Date: 21 Jul 06 - 12:44 AM

Almost 30 years ago I heard a fella (who wasn't particularly young) sing a song about a bloke who thought of himself as 'old and past it'. I can't remember any specific details except the plot line and none of the messages in either thread seem to refer to it.

Rough Plot;
Old bloke goes to a folk club/concert, which is rather crowded, so there are no spare seats when a pretty young lady arrives and needs to sit down.

He offers his seat to her but she sees him as elderly and in greater need of the chair than herself. He feels embarrassed at this and offer her a seat on his lap. She accepts and they listen to the music.

As they do, his thoughts wander and her close proximity, perfume, hair etc have an effect on him that he hasn't experienced for quite some time. Fortunately she is unaware of this.

At the end of the performance she stands up, thanks him for his kindness and turns to leave. He in turn thanks her for allowing him to be a gentleman and bringing memories back that he'd thought long forgotten.

I feel I'm approaching an age where I could probably sing it with some effect, should anyone be able to remember the words & tune.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST,thurg
Date: 21 Jul 06 - 03:45 PM

How 'bout Sonny Boy Williamson II's "Too Old to Think"? All about hoping his baby will look after him when he reaches that stage. A real feel-good song.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: breezy
Date: 21 Jul 06 - 05:23 PM

Dave Gibb, scottish -comprehensible - has one called 'Pensioners Do'
its on his 'Giggles' album

the lyrics are included

its about the old folks having a special lunch and what happens

its a hoot

certainly made me laugh

he will be appareaing at Windward 1st oct


hoots mon

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Peace
Date: 21 Jul 06 - 10:53 PM

The Siegel-Schwall Band

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Peace
Date: 21 Jul 06 - 10:59 PM

Word Man:

Available here for $25.00

Subject: Lyr Add: THE ROUGH AND THE SMOOTH (Steve Ashley)
From: mandotim
Date: 22 Jul 06 - 01:43 AM

I had a look, and I don't think anyone has mentioned Steve Ashley's wonderful 'Rough with the Smooth'. Lyrics;
The Rough with the Smooth (by Steve Ashley)

What a summer we've had - the weather's been bad
And it looks like we're in for some more
It's good for my peas and bad for my knees
And Lord knows they do get sore
But I won't complain if the wind and the rain
Both do as the Lord wants them to
When you're seventy-two there's not much to do
But to just take the rough with the smooth

Arthritis moved in all under my skin
Now he treats every joint as his own
And it's down comes the rain and he digs in the pain
And it's right down into the bone
It makes me to stumble - it makes me to crumble
Till I'm humble right down to my shoes
When he calls in on you there's not much to do
But to just take the rough with the smooth

My daughter's been good - she's done all that she could
To keep me from ending up here
She said if I cared I could move in with her
But of course, I answered, "No fear!"
I don't want no charity, no flannel nor flattery
Your pride is the last thing to lose
I'd far rather stay here out of the way
And just take the rough with the smoooth

Now time's getting on - it's time I was gone
Back home to my home from home
If I had any more I'd be out on the floor
And Christ knows where I would roam
Forgive an old stager a little outrage
Old age must be given its due
Remember you too - whatever you do
You must take the rough with the smooth.

Tim

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: fat B****rd
Date: 22 Jul 06 - 01:22 PM

Just looked at this thread. "Afternoons and Coffee Spoons" by the Crash Test Dummies says it with "humour and pathos" IMO.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: David C. Carter
Date: 22 Jul 06 - 07:04 PM

Rockin'Chair-The Band

It's Not Dark Yet-Dylan

Desperados Waiting For The Train-Guy Clark

David

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: SINSULL
Date: 22 Jul 06 - 07:29 PM

Old and Gray and Only in the Way
I Just Don't Look Good Naked Anymore (Captain Kendall's gem)

I love "Maggie" especially when done by Sandy Paton. Brings tears every time.

Rocking Alone In An Old Rocking Chair

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Artful Codger
Date: 23 Jul 06 - 06:33 AM

"On board a '98", at least the last verse.

"Alzheimer's Blues" (though I can never remember the words)

There's a whole slew of songs from the mid-1800s titled Grandfather's this or Grandmother's that.

Subject: Lyr Add: WE LIVE A LONG LONG TIME TO GET OLD
From: Nathan in Texas
Date: 06 Jun 07 - 11:15 PM

Here's one I couldn't find in the DT.

From Jimmy Murphy, "Electricity" cd (Sugar Hill Records SHCD-3890)

"We Live a Long Long Time to Get Old"

When you begin to get old and feeble
And you can't hardly get around
And you'll have to take two walking sticks
To hobble up to town
You can hear your kinfolks talkin'
They'll be whisperin' all around
Poor old grandpa'd be better off
If he's six feet under the ground

We live a long long time to get old
We live a long long time to get old
So there ain't no need to cry
Poor old Grandpa's got to die
We live a long long time to get old.

When you begin to get old and feeble
And the world has turned you down
You remember back to when you were
The best dressed man in town
You ain't got long to stay here
You waiting for the day
When you can throw your false teeth
And walking cane away

We live a long long time to get old
We live a long long time to get old
So there ain't no need to cry
Poor old Grandpa's got to die
We live a long long time to get old.

When you went to high school
You used to jump and hop
Now each time you move around
You start to crack and pop
You talk about the good old days
When you were in your prime
How you earned all that money
But you didn't save a dime.

We live a long long time to get old
We live a long long time to get old
So there ain't no need to cry
Poor old Grandpa's got to die
We live a long long time to get old.

- Written by Jimmy Murphy

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 07 Jun 07 - 06:58 PM

Gettin' old ain't for sissies. That's not a song, but its true. Or, maybe it is a song. It should be.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Dave Earl
Date: 08 Jun 07 - 05:57 PM

I don't know if there's an appropriate song but I'm feeling older each day.

Today I learnt that another of my younger brothers is to become a grandfather.

On the plus side this could turn out to be another excuse to go out with the bros. and get totally ratbagged and really laddish.

Dave

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: topical tom
Date: 07 Oct 07 - 05:42 AM

the song   Life's summer sun is sinking low
             A few more days and I must go
             To see the deeds that I have done
               Where there will be no setting sun.
   What IS the title of that song?

   Also       All Used Up         by Tom Paxton

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: topical tom
Date: 07 Oct 07 - 07:08 AM

Apologies again! "All Used Up" was of course written by Utah Phillips.

Subject: Lyr Add: I'M NINETY-NINE TODAY (Gracie Fields)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 05:19 PM

You can hear or download this song at The Internet Archive. It's song #1 on that page. Here's my transcription:


I'M NINETY-NINE TODAY
Harper
As sung by Gracie Fields, 1935.

[The recording includes lots of patter which I have omitted.]

1. Gather round your auntie. I'm feelin' fit an' grand.
I've just been around to the doctor's to get me monkey gland.
Now me young man's proposed, an' I'm goin' to change me name,
An' 'e only knows I only need another one for game.

CHORUS: I'm ninety-nine today. Yes, I'm ninety-nine today.
Bad luck to the bloke who said:
"Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead!"
So call me nice and early; they're makin' me queen o' the may.
You're-a-lie-a-tea, you're-a-lie-a-tea,*
I'm ninety-nine today.

2. I've sorted out all me trousseau, an' found me bridal veil.
'Twas 'angin' behind the wardrobe upon a rusty nail.
Then I soon found the cradle; it was 'idden behind some book.
I'd best keep it 'andy. Well, you know, you never know your luck. CHORUS


[* Nonsense line rendered phonetically.]

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Ian Fyvie
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 12:16 PM

With a large ageing population across the West, it was inevitable that the music industry would see a lucrative new market. It started more than a couple of years ago. Lets give it a generic name: 'LurvYa to Your Coffin'.

And take a look, if you want a laugh, at what the hack of popular music scene have come up with.

Some pretty pathetic stuff, I'd say!

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: RunrigFan
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 06:33 PM

Paul Mounsey (Time)

Vatersay Boys - Never Grow Old in english or gaelic

Subject: Lyr Add: MID LIFE CRISIS
From: Bert
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 03:28 AM

Husband and wife duet - Wife's part is indented.


-------------------------------------------------------------

I wanna have a mid life crisis
but if the truth be told

       You can't have a mid life crisis
       Darling You're too old

I wanna drive a bright red sports car
with a pretty young blond for a date
I wanna have a mid life crisis

       You've left it a bit too late
       You coulda had a crisis at Forty
       or even at Fifty Five
       If you'd wanted a mid life crisis
       You should have done it while you're still alive

I want a pick up truck with monster wheels
I want to be stacked up with sex appeal
I want tattoos on my arms and chest
A Harley and a black leather vest
I want to let my hair grow long
I want to get to Nashville with this song
I want a Cowboy hat and belt and boots
I want a hand tailored white silk suit

I wanna have a mid life crisis
but if the truth be told

       You can't have a mid life crisis
       Darling You're too old

I wanna drive a bright red sports car
with a pretty young blond for a date
I wanna have a mid life crisis

       You've left it a bit too late
       You coulda had a crisis at Forty
       or even at Fifty Five
       If you'd wanted a mid life crisis
       You should have done it while you're still alive

I wanna drive a bright red sports car
with a pretty young blond for a date

       Spoken:
       Enough about the blond,
       get your saggy butt off of that couch
       and take out the garbage.

Spoken:

Ok. Ok. But how about a sports car?
What do you think about an Aston Martin?

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Max Johnson
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 06:21 AM

'Where've you been?' - Kathy Mattea.

Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE (Al Yankovic)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 02:49 PM

WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE
As recorded by “Weird Al” Yankovic on “Off the Deep End,” 1992.

Let me tell you, sonny; let me set you straight:
You kids today ain’t never had it rough;
Always had everything handed to you on a silver plate.
You lazy brats think nothin’s good enough.

Well, nobody ever drove me to school when it was ninety degrees below.
We had to walk butt-naked through forty miles of snow.
Worked in a coal mine twenty-two hours a day for just half a cent.
Had to sell my internal organs just to pay the rent.

When I was your age. (4x)

Let me tell you somethin’, you whiny little snot:
There’s somethin’ wrong with all you kids today.
You just don’t appreciate all the things you got.
We were hungry, broke, and miserable, and we liked it fine that way.

Well, there were seventy-three of us livin’ in a cardboard box.
All I got for Christmas was a lousy bag of rocks.
Every night for dinner, we had a big ol’ chunk of dirt.
If we were really good, we didn’t get dessert.

When I was your age. (4x)

Didn’t have no telephone; didn’t have no fax machine.
All we had was a couple of cans and a crummy piece of string.
Didn’t have no swimmin’ pool when I was just a lad.
Our neighbor’s septic tank was the closest thing we had.

Didn’t have no dental floss; had to use old rusty nails.
Didn’t have Nintendo; we just poured salt on snails.
Didn’t have no waterbed; had to sleep on broken glass.
Didn’t have no lawnmower; we used our teeth to cut the grass.

[guitar solo]

What’s the matter now, Sonny? You say you don’t believe this junk?
You think my story’s wearin’ kinda thin?
I tell you one thing: I never was such a disrespectful punk.
Back in my time, we had a thing called discipline.

Dad would whup us every night ’til a quarter after twelve,
Then he’d get too tired and he’d make us whup ourselves.
Then he’d chop me into pieces and play Frisbee with my brain,
And let me tell ya, Junior: you never heard me complain.

When I was your age. (4x)

When I was your age (4x)

- - -
Commentators have compared this to Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry,” but it is more of a stylistic parody; Yankovic didn’t merely take Henley’s music and substitute different words; the tune and verse structure are substantially changed.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Felipa
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 04:30 PM

I don't think "It Ain't Neccessarily So" from the muscical Porgy and Bess is on either discussion thread no 1 or 2. Methusaleh, who was "really old", features in one verse

Methuselah lived 900 years
Methuselah lived 900 years
Who calls that livin'
When no gal will give in
To no man what's 900 years

(lyricist George Gershwin)

Part one DOES cite "I was born about 10,000 years ago", which is Extremely Old.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Bill D
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 04:57 PM

from the Mudcat database:
WHEN I WAS A BOY
(Frank Hayes)

When I was a boy our Nintendo
Was carved from an old Apple tree
And we used garden hose to connect it
To our steam-powered color tv.
But it still beat that ancient Atari
'Cuz I almost went blind, don'tcha know,
Playing Breakout and Pong on a video game
Hooked up to our radio.

And we walked twenty miles to the schoolhouse
Barefoot, uphill both ways,
Through blizzards in summer and winter
Back in the good old days.
Back when Fortran was not even Three-tran
And the PC was only a toy
And we did our computing by gaslight
When I was a boy.

When I was a boy all our networks
Were for hauling in fish from the sea--
Our bawd rate was eight bits an hour (and she was worth it!),
And our IP address was just 3.
And you kids who complain that the World Wide Web
Is too slow oughtta cut out your bitchin',
'Cuz when I was a boy every packet
Was delivered by carrier pigeon

And we walked twenty miles to the schoolhouse
Barefoot, uphill both ways,
Through blizzards in summer and winter
Back in the good old days.
Back when Fortran was not even Two-tran
And the mainframe was only a toy
And we did our computing by torchlight
When I was a boy.

When I was a boy our IS shop
Built relational tables from wood,
And we wrappered our data in oilcloth
To preserve it the best that we could.
And we carried our bits in a bucket,
And our mainframe weighed 900 tons,
And we programmed in ones and in zeros
And sometimes we ran out of ones.

And we walked twenty miles to the schoolhouse
Barefoot, uphill both ways,
Through blizzards in summer and winter
Back in the good old days.
Back when Fortran was not even One-tran
And the abacus? Only a toy!
And we did our computing in primordial darkness
When I was a boy.

Copyright 1997 by Frank Hayes, Firebird Arts & Music (BMI)

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST,RJM
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 05:18 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbFMN6YyZ5I
Old and in the Way
Song by Old & In the Way

   

Old and in the way, that's what I heard them say
They used to heed the words he said, but that was yesterday
Gold will turn to gray and youth will fade away
They'll never care about you, call you old and in the way
Once I hear tell, he was happy
He had his share of friends and good times
Now, those friends have all passed on
He don't have a place called home
Looking back to a better day, feeling old and in the way
When just a boy, he left his home
Thought he'd have the world on a string
Now the years have come and gone
Through the streets he walks alone
Like the old dog gone astray, he's just old and in the way
Old and in the way, that's what I heard them say
They used to heed the words he said, but that was yesterday
Gold will turn to gray and youth will fade away
They'll never care about you, call you old and in the way

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GUEST,RJM
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 05:20 PM

CHARLIE POOLE
"Old And Only In The Way"

When you walk along the street
How often times you'll meet
Some poor old man who's getting old and grey
His age is feeble spent
In his pockets not a cent
And for shelter he has nowhere to go
His relations by the score
They'll turn him from the door
They'll meet him on a street, they'll pass him by
If you ask them why they do
They'll answer you and say,
"He is poor, he's old, he's only in the way"

Now let us cheer them all
For they won't be with us long
Don't point at them because they're old and grey
For remember while you're young
Old age to you will come
And you'll be old and grey and only in the way

There was a time, I hear
When young was not so queer
But since that time there's been an awful change
Young men with strength and might
To the parents they would strike
Yes, it happens every day, that's nothing strange
They strike for fear of toil
Whose children they would spoil
And sure for death ofttimes they do pray
For himself and faithful wife been toiling all their lives
To find they're old and only in the way

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Joe_F
Date: 23 Apr 23 - 09:37 PM

"Elderlyville" by Lou & Peter Berryman. (Can't find the lyrics anywhere.)

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: leeneia
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 12:33 PM

True story. My great-niece, 15 years old, came for a visit. During the visit we attended a noon-time concert then went out for BBQ. These are ages of the people at the lunch: 15, 72, 82, 77, 86.

The person who got along best with my niece was the 86-year-old. As a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and piano teacher, she was gracious, comfortable and experienced at talking to young people. Soon everybody was involved in the flow, and our table was the happiest table in the place.

Somebody write a song about old people being happy and valuable.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: GerryM
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 07:28 PM

leeneia, maybe you'd like The Activity Room, on an album of Holly Near & Ronnie Gilbert. https://youtu.be/s2sZbh0kgdA

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 07:49 AM

Silver threads amonst the gold.......    One of the many versions but this one I like the best.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 01:42 PM

Possibly on the older thread but Julie Andrews used to sing a parody of “My Favourite Things” which featured such things as dentures and zimmer frames.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Acorn4
Date: 27 Apr 23 - 03:55 AM

Eastbourne Viagra Blues

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old - 2
From: Howard Kaplan
Date: 27 Apr 23 - 10:22 PM

On Grit Laskin's 1979 LP Unmasked, re-released in 2000 as part of a CD titled Unabashedly Folk, there's a song titled "The Oldest Man in the World".