Songs about getting really old - 2

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".

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Max Johnson
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 06:21 AM

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

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: RunrigFan
Date: 20 Mar 11 - 06:33 PM

Paul Mounsey (Time)

Vatersay Boys - Never Grow Old in english or gaelic

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: 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: topical tom
Date: 07 Oct 07 - 07:08 AM

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

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Peace
Date: 21 Jul 06 - 10:59 PM

Word Man:

Available here for $25.00

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Bert
Date: 06 Jul 04 - 09:24 AM

Two great songs there El Greko.

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: 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: 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 - 02:26 AM

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

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