father songs

Subject: Lyr Add: THE SCULPTOR (Mike Campbell)
From: Alaska Mike
Date: 11 Jun 06 - 12:10 PM

I wrote this in 1994 about my dad. I still use his artwork on the covers of my CDs.

The Sculptor
by Mike Campbell

When I was a young man I found me a sweetheart,
I carried her books as we walked home from school.
But then when she left me to walk with another,
My poor heart was broken, I felt like a fool
But my father, the sculptor, said son do not worry,
For if you are patient and careful and wise,
You will find you a new love and she�ll bring you true love,
Your heart will be filled when you look in her eyes.

True to his wisdom and just as he told me,
I found my true love in my twenty-third year.
But marriage and children and building a family,
Can bring on more problems than stories you hear.
But my father, the sculptor, said son do not worry,
For if you are patient and careful and wise,
You will let your love guide you and not become blind to,
The wonders and good times your family provides.

He made art out of stone, out of wood, out of bone,
Sometimes he would work through the night in our home.
He could take things in pieces and then make them whole,
And he worked hard at sculpting my soul.

As our children grew older they had many interests,
They blossomed and tried many things on their own.
But once in a while, they would clash with their parents,
Oh, it seemed like, to them, they would never be grown.
Then Grandpa, the sculptor, would say kids don�t worry,
For if you are patient and careful and wise,
You will get through these times when no one understands you,
And cherish these years 'til the day that you die.

Now my wife and I sit on our boat on the ocean,
We'll watch the sunset and think back on good times,
And although the sculptor is no longer with us,
The love that he showed us continues to shine.
For throughout our lives we have tried not to worry,
We've worked to be patient and careful and wise,
Now we play with our grandkids and watch them as they live,
And try our own hand at sculpting their lives.

He made art out of stone, out of wood, out of bone,
Sometimes he would work through the night in our home.
He could take things in pieces and then make them whole,
And he worked hard at sculpting my soul.

Subject: RE: father songs
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 11 Jun 06 - 12:14 PM

What a super song, Mike!

Subject: Lyr Add: HERE'S TO YOU ROUNDERS (Don Lang)
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 11 Jun 06 - 10:25 PM

A great one, albeit about his grandfather, is Don Lang's "Here's To You Rounders":

I never knew my grandad--he was always on the bum,
Every September he'd grab him a southbound and he'd ride,
Long about Christmas, me and my brother
We would get us some cons in the mail,
But we couldn't spend 'em---it was all he could send
From the Mexico City jail.

CHORUS
Here's to you rounders and here's to you railroad bums,
Hoping that you make it home soon,
Here's to the women who married for love
And lived with the man in the moon.

One time near the end he rolled into town,
He was riding on the Greyhound line,
He must've got old and those boxcars got harder to climb,
He dropped his last dime in a call to my granny,
But, "NO!" was her only reply,
She hung up the phone, cursed him in German,
But I saw the pain in her yes.

I never knew my grandad---he was always on the bum,
The Salvation Army, they sent us a note when he died,
Now me and my brother we carry the memory
Of a face that we never did see,
Like some foreign coin laying' cold in the pocket
Of a young boy's faded bluejeans.
--------------------------------------------------------

I recorded this song on my first ever solo LP album:---"Art Thieme--Outright Boldfaced Lies--Live At The Old Town School Of Folk Music"---Kicking Mule Records (KM-150)
Long out of print... -- A.T.

Subject: RE: father songs
From: GUEST,2feathers
Date: 11 Jun 06 - 10:44 PM

Charmain's lyrics seem to go with the melody of "Swet Rosie O'Grady"
Made me laugh, but I can understand her father's reaction to it.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE BREAD KNIFE BALLAD (Robert Service)
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 12 Jun 06 - 04:58 AM

The Bread-Knife Ballad
Robert Service

A little child was sitting Up on her mother's knee
And down down her cheeks the bitter tears did flow.
And as I sadly listened I heard this tender plea,
'Twas uttered in a voice so soft and low.

Chorus:
       "Please Mother don't stab Father with the BREAD-KNIFE,
       Remember 'twas a gift when you were wed.
       But if you must stab Father with the BREAD-KNIFE,
       Please Mother use another for the BREAD."

"Not guilty" said the Jury And the Judge said "Set her free,
But remember it must not occur again.
And next time you must listen to you little daughter's plea,"
Then all the Court did join in this refrain.

       Chorus:
       "Please Mother don't stab Father with the BREAD-KNIFE,
       Remember 'twas a gift when you were wed.
       But if you must stab Father with the BREAD-KNIFE,
       Please Mother use another for the BREAD."

Online text © 1998-2006 Poetry X. All rights reserved.
From Bar-Room Ballads

Subject: Lyr Add: MATTIE RAG (Jamaica)
From: MorwenEdhelwen1
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 07:18 AM

Mattie Rag (Jamaican Mento)

1.
Mumma, mumma, dem ketch puppa,
Dem ketch 'im dung a mango walk.
If a neva run dem woulda ketch mi tu,
So mi sing sweet song an' play guitar.

(chorus)
Wai oh, Mattie rag,
Wai oh, Mattie rag.

2. Puppa go down a mango walk
Cause 'im ear wan hog a chaw a piece a rag.
Wen 'im ax 'im a chaw fa rag,
'Im tell 'im sey a Mattie rag.
(Chorus)
3. Pickney hear whe yu mumma sey,
Yu betta 'tap go mango walk.
If yu neva run dem woulda ketch yu tu,
So sing sweet song an' play guitar.
(Chorus)

Subject: RE: father songs
From: kendall
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 08:28 AM

That song that the Kodak company used in their ads always got to me. ['Turn Around' by Malvina Reynolds]

"Where are you going my little one, little one,
Where are you going my baby my own?
Turn around and you're two, turn around and you're four,
Turn around and you're a young girl going out of the door."

Turn around and you're tiny, turn around and you're grown
Turn around and you're a young wife with babes of your own."

I love my grown daughters as much as I ever did, but I sure do miss my little girls. sniff.

Subject: RE: father songs
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 06 Jul 11 - 08:17 PM

Well, there's "Hang on the Bell, Nellie" (Curfew must not ring tonight)