Songs about getting really old? - 1

Subject: These Are The Days
From: Holly Tannen
Date: 28 Apr 23 - 12:29 AM

THESE ARE THE DAYS
Tune: Those Were The Days. (I had to rewrite it because the line "we'd live the life we choose" was making me crazy.)

After two years closed due to Covid, Lark Music Camp is happening in the Mendocino Woodlands again this year! (July 28-August 5th) But will it be the same?

Once upon a time we’d go to Lark Camp
Hugging all the old friends that we knew
Drinking chai and coffee at the Mullah’s *
Boasting of the great things we would do.
        
        Those were the days, my friend
        We thought they'd never end
        We'd sing and dance forever and a day
        We'd live the life we chose
        And wear our hippie clothes
        Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days.

All those Irish tunes with pipes and fiddles
All the jokes that now we can’t recall
Playing our accordions and banjos
Singing with the Brunos and John Paul.
        
        Those were the days, my friend
        We thought they'd never end
        We'd eat and drink forever and a day
        We'd play the tunes we knew
        And sing a song or two
        For we were young and we knew how to play.

At the Woodlands there’s familiar laughter
Saw your face and heard you call my name
Many friends have gone to the hereafter
But the joyful music’s still the same.

        These are the days, my friend
        We hope they'll never end
        We won’t give up our happy hippie ways   
        Our kids will carry on
        When all of us are gone
        These are the days, oh yes these are the days.


*The Coffeehouse of the Mullah Nasrudin's Donkey

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: reggie miles
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 11:55 PM

Here's a link to an audio recording of I'm Old

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Joe_F
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 08:33 PM

Cyril Tawney's "In the sidings"

Subject: Lyr Add: SLIPPERS (Bernie Martin)
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 24 Oct 07 - 10:51 AM

Slippers by Bernie Martin

I bet when you were younger you were handsome,
I bet you had a way with all the girls,
Bet you used to stay up after midnight
Planning how you'd conquer the whole world.

Now you go to sleep soon after supper;
Seems the world has done some conquering of its own.
What happened to those girls you often wonder
As you sit there watching TV all alone.

You say tomorrow I will get myself together,
Just knowing that tomorrow never comes.
You'd like to go out walking after midnight,
But it's dark out there and cold; you'd best stay home.

I bet when you were younger you were handsome,
Bet you had a way with all the girls,
Bet you used to stay up after midnight
Planning how you'd conquer the whole world.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Susan B
Date: 05 Oct 07 - 07:05 PM

And there was that sentimental song that the Oldham Tinkers did, I think. The chorus went something like this:-

Take your time, me lovely old man,
There's no need for to hurry
For as long as you're able to wind up me clock
Then I have no need for to worry.

Can't think what that was all about?

Susan B

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 05 Oct 07 - 01:40 PM

What was the song by George Jones that had a verse approximately thus:

"She was hotter than a two-dollar pistol,
She was the fastest thing around.
Long and lean, every young man's dream,
She turned every head in town.
She was hot, and fun to handle son,
I'm glad that you dropped in -
She reminds me of the one I loved back then!"

It begins when the young man drives his hot new car into a service station. When the old man begins the song, it seems he is singing about a long ago car he had - an obvious metaphor for something he valued much more, flaming youth long past.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,Neil
Date: 04 Oct 07 - 07:04 PM

Patches (George Jones)

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,Mike B.
Date: 03 Oct 07 - 06:49 PM

"Wearing The Time" (Tom Paxton)

I think he also wrote a humorous one about the painful experience of finding an issue of Modern Maturity magazine in his mailbox.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,PMB
Date: 03 Oct 07 - 04:53 AM

All Used Up by U. Utah Philips:

He used up my labor, he used up my time
He plundered my body and squandered my mind
Then he gave me a pension, some handouts and wine
And told me I'm all used up

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 11:04 PM

OLD AND IN THE WAY.....jerry garcia

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Melissa
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 10:06 PM

There's one about a guy who gets older and crickled up..but insists on working himself hard to tend his crop. I think the name is "the corn will still grow"
It was on one of those sites where you click to hear the songs and might still be found by running a search for the title.

The line I remember was something like "rest easy, dear farmer, and don't shed a tear..the corn will still grow when you're gone"

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Relson
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 07:53 PM

My mistake, you are correct, Tom Rush sings it but it was written by Steve Walters. My apologies! My memory is not what it used to be!

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 02 Oct 07 - 01:09 PM

Relson,
I've heard a few people sing The Remember Song: "I'm lookin' for my wallet and my car keys...", but none of them credited it to Tom Rush. I'm sure they mentioned another name. I know he sang it, but are you sure that he wrote it.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Nick E
Date: 01 Oct 07 - 07:31 PM

I too admit I did not sift the whole thread, but a couple of thoughts.
Warren Zevon's last album, written and recorded while he was in the process of dying may have a few tunes of interest. (Not that he was that old)
Or the obscure tune by J.P Cormier "Another Morning" I had heard the song but did no know the title and posted lyrics on Mudcat and after a week no one had ID'ed it. Now that is obscure, still a beautiful and sad song, a sample of you can here on JP's site (I googled it to find it)

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 01 Oct 07 - 11:32 AM

I didn't read the whole thread, but did anyone mention Mike Smith's The Dutchman?

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: PMB
Date: 01 Oct 07 - 10:10 AM

Banks of the Dee - not really really old I suppose, more sort of my age. But anyone of my age applying for a job has the same problem today:

I am an old miner, aged fifty and six.
If I could get lots, why I'd raffle my picks;
I'd raffle them, I'd sell them, I'd hoy them away,
For I can't get employment, my hair it's turned grey.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 01 Oct 07 - 10:05 AM

Does anyone remember a song by Harry Nilsson with the chorus:
                  I'd rather be dead
                  Than wet my bed
   He actually had the residients of a nursing home singing with him on the chorus.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: SINSULL
Date: 30 Sep 07 - 09:21 PM

Old and Gray and Only in the Way

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: bankley
Date: 30 Sep 07 - 09:12 PM

"The Last Ride" recorded by Hank Snow.... written by Halcomb and Daffen. A superb hobo song.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Relson
Date: 30 Sep 07 - 04:08 PM

Tom Rush's "The Remember Song"

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Peace
Date: 30 Sep 07 - 12:38 PM

Refresh

Subject: Lyr Add: LUCILLE (Fred Eaglesmith)
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 06 Jun 07 - 07:47 PM

Brenda Hazlewood of Port Dover sent this setting of Fred Eaglesmith's Louise to Jason Hammond's web site:

LUCILLE (by Fred Eaglesmith)
C
Lucille was a woman and I was a boy
            F
And it was obvious that she wanted more
       c                                       G
Than a man her age could give her and that was me.
C
I was wild as a summer squall
F
Blowing through town no direction at all
    C                G                C
And I was wilder than even she could believe.


(Chorus)
         F                   C
I had a Cobra Jet 428 in a '65 Ford and it ran great
F                                           C
Take it on out to where the gravel turns to road
F                     C
Take it on up to 110, tires screaming in and out of the bend
                                             G
And Lucille hanging on just as tight as she could.
            F             G                      C
And it was cra...ayyyy...zeee. But it sure was good!


Lucille was 50 and I was 19
And you know it never bothered me
Not even when they called out in the bars.
I'd get tough and I'd bust some heads
Lucille would laugh when the cops got there
We'd sneak out the back and take off in my car.

(Chorus)
I had a Cobra Jet 428 in a '65 Ford and it ran great
Take it on out to where the gravel turns to road
Take it on up to 110, tires screaming in and out of the bend
And Lucille hanging on just as tight as she could.
And it was cra...ayyyy...zeee. But it sure was good!

Last week I turned 45, when I woke up,
Well out in the driveway,
My wife had fixed that old car up for me.
She'd had in the garage for a week or two
When I got it back, it was good as new.
I started it up and I took off down the highway.


BRIDGE (LIKE CHORUS)

   F
I drove on up to Randolph Heights,
            C
There's an old folks' home there past the lights
    F                                    C
And Lucille was sitting out there in the shade.
   F
I wheeled her around to the passenger door
C
I picked her up and put her in that car
                        G             C
And we took off like a dustbowl hurricane.


(Chorus)
         F                   C
In that Cobra Jet 428 in a '65 Ford and it ran great
F                                           C
Took it on out to where the gravel turns to road
F                     C
Took it on up to 110, tires screaming in and out of the bend
                                             G
And Lucille hanging on just as tight as she could.
            F             G                      C    F C
And it was cra...ayyyy...zeee. But it sure was good!
             C    F C
It sure was good...
             C    F    C
It sure was goooo-oooo-ooood.

Subject: Lyr Add: AGE LIKE WINE (Todd Snider)
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 06 Jun 07 - 11:05 AM

Todd Snider's AGE LIKE WINE

Old timer, Old timer
Too late to die young now
Old timer, five and dimer
Trying to find a way to age like wine somehow

My new stuff is nothing like my old stuff was
And neither one is much when compared to the show
Which will not be as good as some other one you saw...
So help me, I know, I know, I know

I am an old timer, old timer
It's too late to die young now
Old timer, five and dimer
Trying to find a way to age like wine somehow

I've met every fool that ever signed
Their picture on these walls
In the backs of these beer joints and concert halls.
I been through seven managers, five labels,
A thousand picks and patch cables,
Three vans, a band, a bunch of guitar stands,
and cans and cans and cans of beer
And bottles of booze and bags of pot
And a thousand other things that I forgot.
I thought that I be dead by now...
But I'm not.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: reggie miles
Date: 06 Jun 07 - 10:51 AM

Ebbie, thank you, I think you see this fella just right. It's my hope as well that we might all be able to wake up, before it's too late.

meself, many thanks. I'll have to check out those lyrics in "Brother Can You Spare A Dime?" I wonder if that one is included in the lyric database here. I guess it should be easy enough to search for online.

I've often found it difficult to step forward against the grain of criticism with regard to some of the messages in my songs. Sometimes it seems as though the words write themselves. They insist on being written and then further insist that they be heard, played, and performed. I have little choice but to obey their nagging and taunting. I'm fascinated by this, the way that some song ideas come to me and I don't want to offend the muse by denying or limiting my participation in the process.

Reg

Subject: Lyr Add: TWO-HUNDRED YEAR OLD ALCOHOLIC (L Clancy)
From: Scorpio
Date: 06 Jun 07 - 05:16 AM

Just for the record:

THE TWO-HUNDRED YEAR OLD ALCOHOLIC
Liam Clancy

When I was eighty I started smoking
Took to drinking at eighty-five
At ninety I started courting
Thank God that I was alive
Ninety-five saw me in business
Determined to rake in a pile
At a hundred I made my first million
And I started living in style

Chorus:
Oh, it's never too late to start living
To get out and have some fun
The sun will be just as shiny in the morning
As the first day the world begun

Well I moved to an uptown penthouse
Used fifties to light my cigars
Developed a taste for fine champagne
Drove fast I-talian cars
But the doctor he give me a warning
And a lecture on right and wrong
If I didn't give up my sinful ways
I couldn't live very long

But I said to him...

Now I'm a two-hundred year old alcoholic
And the nicotine's caught up on me
But worst of all in this morning's mail
Got a suit for paternity
But I'm not really unhappy
'Cause maybe I'll have me a son
And his morning's will be just as shiny
As the first day the world begun


Also Simon & Garf: Bookends

And Leonard Cohen's gem, Tower of Song, which begins with the immortal lines:

My friends are gone
And my hair is grey
I ache in the places
Where I used to play

Subject: Lyr Add: FREEWHEELING (parody)
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 09:14 PM

Here's a parody of the song by Jim Reid which was mentioned way back above called "Freewheeling".
I wrote this parody for the thousands of people who did the Glasgow to Edinburgh charity bike ride last summer, some of whom were definitely "getting older" but doing their best to keep fit! They broke their journey for refreshment in Linlithgow where we provided some musical entertainment. Other parodies included "Ride On" and "O Pedallers of Scotland"(You may need a glossary for a few of the Scots words!)
I'll try to post the original Jim Reid words later.

FREEWHEELING                                
(Based on song by Jim Reid – parody 24.08.06.)

They're getting ower the hill it seems
Tho' their bikes are not all young,
It's half a hunner miles they ride
And they're daein' it – for fun?
But they've another twenty miles tae go
Afore they finish,
They'll get a bowl o' pasta here
Bu ne'er a pint o' Guinness.

Chorus
Freewheeling noo, freewheeling noo,
Gets easier every day,
Just tak' it slow, where'er you go,
Freewheeling doon the brae.

Their bikes are getting muddy noo,
Could do wi' a good wash,
But careful by the Union canal
Or there could be a big splash.
Chorus

There's some folk trim and slim and fit
And ayeways keep their cool,
And others red-faced puff and pant
Havenae ridden a bike since school.
Chorus

The shorts are clingin', oxters mingen,
And someone's feet are smelly,
But me, I think I'd raither be
Back hame beside the telly.
Chorus

So tuck in tae the scran that's here
You're certain tae gae faster
While some might cry it rocket fuel,
I think it's only pasta.
Chorus

But jokes apart, we do admire
Brave lads and lassies who ride,
I ken you'll look back on this day
And remember us with pride.
Chorus x 2
TB

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,john f weldon
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 05:08 PM

Previously mentioned I believe...
My Old Man was a Good Old man (from a Fiddler's Green CD)
...I find it too depressing to listen to.

Perkier, same theme...

VACATION AND NAP

I was workin my ass off the other day
Doin my job to get my pay
The boss comes by and he says to me
You look forty seven, maybe fifty three
You got no volts, and not much wattage
You're gettin on son, hittin your dottage
I'm not gonna sling you a line of crap
You need a short vacation and a nice long nap

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 04:34 PM

Strong song, Reggie. Strikes me as an updated "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime".

Anyone mention "Now I'm Easy", Eric Bogle?

Then there's The Ash Grove - at least the lyrics I learned as a kid.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Ebbie
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 03:19 PM

Reggie Miles, those are great words and insightful sentiment. I think of the fella speaking as being an amalgamation of us all. I can only hope that we wake up before we reach the end.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: KB in Iowa
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 03:03 PM

"Arthritis Blues" by Ramblin' Jack Elliott (on the CD 'I Stand Alone')

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 02:50 PM

Days of '49.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 02:13 PM

Sorry, but I didn't read the whole thread, so I may repeat a few.

When You and I Were Young Maggie

Aged Like Wine (Todd Snider)

Class Reunion (Mark Rust)

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,reggie miles
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 02:02 PM

Thanks for the comment Bugsy. I've actually received mixed reviews for this one. Some folks don't understand why I would malign the elderly as having anything to do with the present state of life on the planet. To those folks I can only scratch my head.

I just noticed that there's a word missing in the last line. It should read - I'll try to do better with my time spent here then.

I'm not certain if I can easily translate the chordal structure via a text format and I don't know how to read or write those musical hen scratchins that those in the know folks know how to use. I'm uncertain as to how to offer it up to you here but here goes. It's a slow to medium paced ballad type song with only four chords. It's a simple folk song type progression. There is only one pattern throughout and that does not change from verse to verse. There is only an "A" part to the melody, no "B", or turn around, or bridge, or any of the other conventions that so many contemporary composers seem so adamant about adding to each and every song they write. Let me try to explain further and see if I can illustrate what I've done with it.

(1)I'm old, yes I'm old and I (5)found out to(1)day
My (4)tired old frame just (1)gets in the (5)way
So I (4)guess I'll move on and try to (1)find me some (the relative minor of the 1 chord)place
Where a (1)man can grow older and (5)die with some (1)grace

If in the key of G major it would look like this.

(G)I'm old, yes I'm old and I (D)found out to(G)day
My (C)tired old frame just (G)gets in the (D)way
So I (C)guess I'll move on and try to (G)find me some (Em)place
Where a (G)man can grow older and (D)die with some (G)grace

Of course, this doesn't tell you how I actually play or sing this melody. It merely offers you the basic idea behind where I went with it. Maybe some songs are better left to interpretation.

Reg

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: mandotim
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 08:30 AM

Steve Ashley's wonderful song 'Take the Rough with the Smooth'.
Tim

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Bugsy
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 07:30 AM

GReat words Reggie, What's the tune like?

Cheers

Bugsy

Subject: Lyr Add: I'M OLD (Reggie Miles)
From: GUEST,reggie miles
Date: 05 Jun 07 - 04:34 AM

Here's a jolly song about gettin' old.

I'm Old Reggie Miles 2007

I'm old, yes I'm old, and I found out today,
My tired old frame just gets in the way.
So I guess I'll move on and try to find me some place,
Where a man can grow older and die with some grace.

I've done so many things with the times of my life.
I courted a beauty and made her my wife.
I found a good job, and then we settled down
We bought a small house on the outskirts of town.

I raised a fine family. Shall I tell you their names?
Well, there's Johnny and Mary, and Annie and James.
But now they've all gone and I'm bent from the wear.
With withered ol' limbs and gray shaggy hair.

I'm old, yes I'm old, and I found out today,
My tired old frame it just gets in the way.
I'm off on my own after all of these years,
Filled with laughter and love and sadness and tears.

The American dream, I've lived it you see
Spent all of my life in this land of the free
I've leveled her mountains, farmed her great plains
Dammed mighty rivers, and poisoned her rains

I've reaped vast wealth from polluting her soil
I've spoiled her oceans by spilling her oil
There's not a fish in the sea, nor a bird in the air
That hasn't suffered or died while under my care

I'm old, yes I'm old, and I realized today,
My time 'round here hasn't all gone my way.
I've found no balance in this worldly place
Only struggles and strife over faith, wealth, and race.

I've fought mighty battles and wars by the score
I've left thousands to starve, and ignored the poor
Destruction and death have been my legacy
In the wake of such hate who cares about me?

I've left no solutions only more of the same
No comfort I've given to ease anyone's pain
My words have been lies; my heart's been a stone
I guess it's befitting that I die all alone

I'm old, yes I'm old and I've naught left to do
But to say goodbye and farewell to you
And if I should ever pass this way again
I'll try to do better with my spent here then

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Joe_F
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 09:41 PM

EBarnacle: Surely, Mr Seeger must have known that "Fair Harvard" took its tune from "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms" -- which, come to think, belongs here too.

However, I suspect he was spoofing. The resemblance between that tune and that of "Get Up and Go" is not great. If they were sung simultaneously, there would be many discords.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 07:44 PM

I was already out of the service and back to college when the Beatles invaded. Most of the fellows had really short hair at the time. We were in high dudgeon at seeing all the girls go for these chaps with the bowl haircuts! Who knew? Maybe Uncle Albert.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,Nicholas Waller
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 06:20 PM

Nathalie Nahai is indeed 20-something, not exactly sure what, and she wasn't singing in an old people's home; as a guess those "30 years older than her" were about 15 when Sergeant Pepper came out (and 13 when The Who's My Generation came out).

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 04:48 PM

I just wrote a big long post, a real beaut' - and it got eaten by some kind of cyber-beast.


Okay, Ebbie: 1) Charles Aznavour.

2) Dusty Springfield.

3) some guy who calls himself 'living legend'.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Ebbie
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 03:11 PM

Thought off the top of my head: Unless Nathalie Nahai was but 20 years old, I should think that singing those lyrics to people 30 years older than herself would be incredibly insensitive...

I tell people that my age is something they'll get if they are lucky. Think of all the deaths of young'uns.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,Nicholas Waller
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 03:01 PM

I saw Nathalie Nahai perform her song Winter to an audience of greyhairs all about 30 years older than her; she was no doubt inspired by previous sightings of the horrors awaiting her:

You say we're still young
Our lives have just begun
Beauty will leave me and time wear us down
I don't want to grow old
I don't want to die

http://www.myspace.com/nathalienahai

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: Ebbie
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 02:53 PM

Wow. Yesterday When I was Young- I've got to hear it.

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 02:50 PM

Somehow the last line got dropped when I submitted the above:

The last line is: "Take a drink with old Rosin the Bow!"

Without that, the first three lines might leave one hanging.....

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 02:40 PM

What? Nobody mentioned (so far as I can tell) "Rosin the Beau," most particularly the last verse:

    I feel that old tyrant approaching,
    That cruel, remorseless old foe,
    And I lift up me glass in his honor!

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: SINSULL
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 10:55 AM

Utah Phillips "Golden Mansions"

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,john f weldon
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 09:42 AM

...as long as I'm tooting my own horn here, but what about "riding the iceberg", second from the bottom on this page....

http://www.weldonalley.ca/songs/nowsongs.html

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,Black Hawk at work
Date: 04 Jun 07 - 06:52 AM

How about - Waylon Jennings 'White Hair and Yellow Teeth'.
Mo Bandy - 'Too Old to Die Young'
Johnny Cash - 'The Masterpiece'

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 11:21 PM

(That was me).

Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old?
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Jun 07 - 11:21 PM

"Yesterday When I Was Young" -

Thanks for posting the lyrics. I'd always it thought it was kind of schmaltzy, without ever having really listened to it ("so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see") - although I do recall well being moved the first time I heard it - as a kid, saw Roy Clark sing it on Hee-Haw ... and now, just doing a search, I find that Mickey Mantle asked Roy Clark to sing it at his funeral.

You really have to have reached a certain age, and perhaps have lived a certain life, to appreciate it ...