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

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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

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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



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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

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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