John Prine’s Hello in There deals with old age poignantly, and also ranks as one of the saddest songs too. Comic songs about getting old are much easier to write, such as this one of mine:

Now I’m an old pensioner but what do I care
I’ve spent all my savings on an electric armchair
I groan when I stand up and groan in the seat
No coins for the meter, I’ve been sat here all week

With a grant from the Council. I got a stairlift
I live in a bungalow, so it’s scarcely a gift
I ride on my monorail, around my ground floor
But the fun is short lived, I can’t open the door

I went to the school gate, to meet my grandson
I had the wrong specs on and I grabbed the wrong one
His Dad was a builder, at excuses he scoffed
He knocked through my downstairs, converted my loft

My joints give me trouble, especially my pins
Despite best endeavours they won’t walk passed inns
They suggest new hip joints I might like to try
I said I prefer my own local, it’s really close by

I agreed to steel implants, but one leg at a time
And the cheapest of steel, the surgeons could find
I trigger alarms now, each time I pass by
And can switch TV channels just be slapping my thigh

Whilst waiting the next leg, I’m rather bereft
I walk round in circles and can only turn left
My route to the ale house is just a short stride
But when I’m returning it’s more like five miles

I’m showered with junk mail, they all want my cash
My official post’s lost amidst all the trash
I mixed up my Tax Form with my bowel screening kit
And returned to the Taxman my samples of...what he normally sends me.

There are more verses, but you get the drift......