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06 Oct 97 - 11:44 AM (#14050) Subject: Songs about getting really old? From: Peter T. This is a companion ("cf. Old Friends, Simon and Garfunkel") to the other thread "Songs About Getting Older" asking about songs relating to those who are getting somewhat older. Does anyone have any good songs -- uplifting, depressing, gruesome, sweet -- about the really aged? It is scary to think that the Beatles "When I'm Sixty-Four" might be in this category, but they were in their twenties, what did they know? Yours, Peter T. |
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06 Oct 97 - 12:39 PM (#14056) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: S.P. Buck Mulligan Peter: I have a few for you: "Hello In There" by John Prine, "The Dutchman" by Mike Smith, and "The Old Folks" by, I think, Jacques Brel (not 100% sure on this attribution). The prine has been recorded by Bette Midler of course, but Prine's own rendition is far superior. The Mike Smith tune was sort of a signature of Steve Goodman's, appearing on one of his earliest albums. The only recording of "The Old Folks" I've heard is by HJ Dutschendorf on none of his "pre-Country Boy" LPs. |
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06 Oct 97 - 01:19 PM (#14060) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Harold Peter, the Beatles sung "When I get older.." and not "When I get really old" ! Then you would be right. I remember parts of the Dubliners´ "Now I´m Easy", about a man who IS really old, or at least feels really old. "It´s nearly over now, and now I´m easy...". It´s a very haunting song of hard times in Ireland in former times. |
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06 Oct 97 - 02:13 PM (#14067) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Bill D "Over the Hills to the Poor House"..old country/bluegrass number and "The Black Sheep"...(in the database)...songs about what is done with the old... |
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06 Oct 97 - 02:30 PM (#14069) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Alice There are "Silver Threads Among the Gold" (in the DT) and "Darling Nellie Gray", "The Picture on the Wall", "Long, Long, Ago", "Grandfather's Clock", "You're As Welcome As The Flowers in May" (I saw my daddy old and grey, I heard my dear old mother say,), "Are You Tired of Me Darling", "After The Ball" (A little maiden climbed on an old man's knee, begged for a story...), "Bring Back to Me My Wandering Boy" (tell him that his mother with faded cheeks and hair, at the old home is waiting him there...). I didn't check the first thread on aging to see if I am repeating here, guess I should have done that before typing all of this in. Interesting topic. Alice in Montana |
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06 Oct 97 - 03:36 PM (#14078) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Coralena "That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine" by Gene Autry A very touching song, if you love your Daddy this one may make you cry. |
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06 Oct 97 - 04:49 PM (#14084) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Joe Offer Steve Goodman and Jerry Jeff Walker both wrote wonderful songs with the same title, "My Old Man." Not folk songs, but "The Living Years" by Mike and the Mechanics is worth a close listen. "Leader of the Band" by Dan Fogelberg always makes me think of my dad, who nowadays doesn't sing as much as he used to. -Joe Offer- |
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06 Oct 97 - 04:57 PM (#14085) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Peter T. Great Songs. (the real Buck Mulligan? We are honoured) Another Jacques Brel (his best) "Chanson des Vieux Amants". Harold, any lyrics to "Now I'm Easy"? I guess "Angel From Montgomery" is also an old person's song. An e-mail from a friend who notes (while recommending "I'm So Glad I'm Not Young Anymore" from Gigi) that Sophocles is reputed to have said, "At last I do not feel those terrible fires." He was 90. Yours, Peter |
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06 Oct 97 - 05:01 PM (#14086) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Joe Offer Many of the songs in the "Time & Changes" chapter of the "Rise Up Singing" songbook have to do with aging, but I don't have time today to type any. One I like especially is "The Activity Room (Mrs. Abrams)," by Ruth Pelham. Ronnie Gilbert did a great job with this song on the "Lifeline" album she recorded live with Holly Near in 1983. -Joe Offer- |
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06 Oct 97 - 05:05 PM (#14087) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Bill D Oh!! Another great one,,,it's in the database.."Didn't I Dance" |
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06 Oct 97 - 05:46 PM (#14094) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Frank Phillips The chorus posted by Harald sounds like the Eric Bogle song about the Australian farmer called "Now I'm Easy" which is in the DT. Might there be another song by this name? Frank |
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06 Oct 97 - 06:04 PM (#14095) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Harold Well, as far as I remember: For nearly 60 years,I´ve been a cockey I married a fine girl, when I was twenty My wife died when giving birth, when she was thirty No flying doctor then, just a gentle old black gent But It´s nearly over now, and now I´m easy She left me with two sons and with a daughter And a bone dry farm, which soil cries out for water me daughter married young and went her own way me sons lie buried near the Burma Railway But it´s nearly over now, and now I´m easy Oh, what have I done? I´m ready to submit only fragments of a song. I thought, I would have more of that song in my mind. To my excuse: It´s some time ago, that I´ve heard it. But the fact that I remembered at least a little bit showes, that the song is worth it. Bye the way: The Dubliners sang it on their 25th years celebration album. There´s also a songbook containing the songs of that record. Sorry for my insufficient memory, Harald ^^^ |
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06 Oct 97 - 06:09 PM (#14096) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Harold Hey what´s the heck is going on here? I first searched the DT before making a fool out of me with submitting these fragments, but didn´t find it. Now I´m looking up something else and what do I see: Now I´m Easy !!! Well, it´s after midnite here, perhaps I should go to bed now. See ya tomorrow folks, good night to everybody, Harald |
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06 Oct 97 - 06:14 PM (#14098) Subject: Lyr Add: GET UP AND GO (partial lyrics) From: Robert Lee A great song done by Pete Seeger on the Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie Live at Carnegie Hall album: How do I know my youth is all spent? My get-up-and-go has got up and went, But in spite of it all I'm able to grin And think of the places my get-up has been. I wake up each morning and dust off my wits, Pick up 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. ...there's lots more, but that's all I remember. Robert Lee |
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06 Oct 97 - 06:25 PM (#14101) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: alison HI Now I'm easy is about Australia. The words are in the dfatabase but just to correct what was said up above, it goes.... No flying doctor then, just a gentle old black gin, (Aboriginal woman.) Come on Alan of Oz, give them the other version........ Slainte Alison |
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06 Oct 97 - 06:38 PM (#14105) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Carl Hi Alison, As this thread went via Now I´m easy directly to Australia, I waited for you to respond, and there it is. But could also be Ireland. Only the hint of the Burma Railway and the black gent/gin showed clearly that it´s Australia-originated. Some songs sung in Ireland come from Australia, like one of my favourites "Waltzing Matilda". Well, there´s no particular message in this answer, I know. Just wanted to have a little chat, and the chat-room is always empty... Slan go foill, Carl |
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06 Oct 97 - 07:03 PM (#14111) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Peter T. Wherever it is from, a good song. Must find the record, before I get too old....Yours, Peter |
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06 Oct 97 - 08:56 PM (#14117) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Moira Cameron There's a couple of humourous songs sung by the late David Parry that come to my mind. One is a song called "Greezy Mac" about an older man who consideres himself a 'bar-maid connoiseur'. The other one is (I believe) a Robert Service poen that David put to music called "I wish I was eighty again." Actually, Robert Service wrote quite a few poems about getting old or being old; some of them funny, some not.
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06 Oct 97 - 10:19 PM (#14122) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Pauline Lerner A bunch of them, with different moods, come to mind: 1. Hats Off to Old Folks, by Schooner Fare, is actually upbeat. 2. Sailor's Rest, by Stan Rogers, is depressing. 3. Saltwater Farm, by Schooner Fair, is about unfulfilled dreams of an old man. 4. Eileen Aroon, by Trad., addresses aging of a pretty woman. 5. Eyes of a Painter, by Kate Wolf, is a kind, loving portrait of Grandpa.
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06 Oct 97 - 11:10 PM (#14127) Subject: Lyr Add: GET UP AND GO (additional lyrics: Walden) From: rich r "My Get Up and Go Has Got Up and Went" words Public domain and tune by Pete Seeger is in the database. In Pete's book (Where Have All The Flowers Gone) he relates the story of how he found the words on the back of a restaurant menu in Wisconsin and since has found evidence that it goes back at least to WW1. He also includes an alternative last verse and chorus that was went to him by Eleanor Walden. 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 gone, So I eat a good breakfast and plan to go on. For life is a blessing and love is a hope. There's too much to do now to sit here and mope, So I tie my Adidas and answer the call. I'll die in the struggle or I won't die at all. How do I know I'm ready to fight? My get up and go is still within sight. In spite of my body, my spirit is strong, And I'm passing the torch from the old to the young. rich r |
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07 Oct 97 - 01:02 AM (#14132) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Barry Now I'm Easy is from Eric Bogel, who wrote it (or so he says) after spending some time in a bar with an elderly gent who proceeded to tell his life story to Eric's willing ear. He then says after the story was finished he ran outside, behind the bar & jotted it all down as was related to him & it became song. Moore's "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" & Dave Van Ronk's "Another Time And Place" are a few charmers. Barry |
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07 Oct 97 - 01:42 AM (#14133) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Charlie Baum I'm thinking of "Run the Film Backwards" by Sydney Carter, which I've heard sung by Iain MacKintosh on his album _Gentle Persuasion_ (Greentrax/ TRAX014) about getting younger and younger. It starts out "At the grand old age of eighty-seven, they took me from the coffin," and runs a life in reverse until he becomes a very young boy and "Mother means the world to me and soon I'll be inside her." |
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07 Oct 97 - 03:32 AM (#14141) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Wolfgang (Hell) What comes to my mind is the beautiful "Joy of living" (it is in the database) by the then quite old Ewan MacColl. What also comes to my mind is the quite nasty "When you are old and grey" by Tom Lehrer (also in the DTDB) Wolfgang |
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07 Oct 97 - 08:36 AM (#14152) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: alison HI What about the beautiful, (if depressing) Kilkelly, which I'm sure is in the database. About the old man's letters to his son. Faals into my songs to slash your wrists to category, (along with Now I'm easy), but a great song nevertheless. Slainte Alison |
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07 Oct 97 - 01:13 PM (#14155) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: dick greenhaus Check out @age or @aging (or, better yet, @ag*) in the database. |
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07 Oct 97 - 01:17 PM (#14156) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: dick greenhaus Hi again- Just checked. The Digital Tradition database lists 99 songs dealing with age or aging. A start, at least. |
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07 Oct 97 - 03:54 PM (#14168) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Bill in Alabama There's always "Old and In the Way." I'm sure that it's in the DT. |
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07 Oct 97 - 04:33 PM (#14170) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: S.P. Buck Mulligan I wouldn't be surprised if "Chanson de vieux amants" is in fact the same song Denver recorded in translation as "The Old Folks." but that's only a suspicion. I'd forgotten about "Angel" - it is indeed about growing old ("I am an old woman ....") Not the real Buck (but I qualify for the "Plump" part; "stately"'s a judgment call though.)just a Joyce fan. Was once in a band, and we spent an entire evening (and several jugs of E&J's best) thinking up names. "Buck Mulligan Band" got the nod, and as I was in front, I was often mistaken for "Buck." What about Kristofferson's great "Casey's Last Ride?" It's not strictly about getting old, I guess, but about maturing out of a relationship. Or "Are You Tired Of Me, My Darling" which I think dates to the 1830s (Nanci Griffith did a smashing job on "Other Voices ..." with Chet atkins on acoustic 6 string. "Tecumseh Valley" by Townes van Zandt on the same disc is kinda about getting old (and then stopping getting older) Stan Rogers did a nifty job with "Lies" though again, that's not about getting "Really" old, just getting on in years and on with life. On his "From Fresh Water" there's "The Last Watch" which deals with obsolescence, human and mechanical. I think that'd qualify. |
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07 Oct 97 - 04:46 PM (#14172) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Nonie Rider Yeah, I'd say MOST of Stan Rogers' songs are about getting older--as long as you include the aging and passing away of ships and jobs and ways of living.
Goddammit, I miss that man, and I never even met him.
Ever read Peter S. Beagle's THE FAIR FOLK? The main character is described by a friend as always mourning for things passing away, even if they haven't yet; always aware of what WILL pass. --Nonie |
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07 Oct 97 - 05:09 PM (#14174) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Bert Talking of old ships, my Dad sings a song called "Goodbye Old Ship of Mine" |
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07 Oct 97 - 05:45 PM (#14183) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Peter T. Dear Buck, No, Chanson is a different song, more about the savage (and now not so savage) relationship between a man and a woman. More good songs (I have never heard). Dear Nonie, I think it was Orwell somewhere who talked about being at the tail end of traditions he didn't know were passing on until afterwards, when they became curiosities. Like reading, for example. Yours, Peter
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07 Oct 97 - 07:12 PM (#14200) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Tim Jaques tjaques@netcom.ca As I mentioned in the other thread, "Hello In There" by John Prine. There is also that one that was a hit in the 1970's that began "Now I've been 'round for 80 summers . . ." "Now I'm 64", the folksong, not to be confused with "When I'm 64" by the Beatles, which also qualifies. |
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07 Oct 97 - 08:32 PM (#14210) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Mark Pemburn Then there's "Rockin' Chair": Rockin' chair done got me/ Cane by my side/ Hand me that gin boy/ Fo' I tan your hide That's all I know of it. Hand me that whiskey, would ye? Mark |
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08 Oct 97 - 04:51 AM (#14228) Subject: Lyr Add: IT'S NOT EASY (Alan Foster) From: Alan of Australia G'day, Eric Bogle's "now I'm Easy" is actually full of Aussie references:- cocky - Aussie slang for farmer droughts & fires & floods - could be anywhere maybe, but applies particularly to Oz. Flying Doctor - Royal Flying Doctor Service which brings medical help to people in outlying areas covering 2 million square miles and has been operating since 1927. Started by Rev. John Flynn (Flynn of the Inland) and Alfred Traeger who invented the pedal wireless which was used for many years by remote farmers etc. gin (definitely not gent) - see Alison's post above.
And here's a parody:-
IT'S NOT EASY by Alan Foster For nearly sixty years I've been a folky
Well I learnt to play guitar when I was twenty
Pretty soon I'm gonna record a great new album
Teenagers today despise the folky
For nearly sixty years I've been a folky Cheers, |
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08 Oct 97 - 11:08 AM (#14268) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Justin Good Alan. I heard Eric Bogle do his own parody for a sound check once in Princeton (NJ). It started, "For nearly 60 years I've been a jockey," and complained of saddle sores. A really good song that kind of goes with "Now I'm Easy" is Judy Small's (not on the database) ... now I can't remember the title, but it's chorus has "Sometimes I wonder if it all was worth the doin'...and some times I think this was the finest life of all". Priscilla Herdman recorded it on an early album. I'll get the words & submit them. |
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08 Oct 97 - 12:01 PM (#14271) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Bob Landry I was flipping through my "A" book last night and came across "Streets of London" by Ralph McTell. A poignant commentary on how our youth and money oriented society treats old people. It's in the database |
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08 Oct 97 - 07:14 PM (#14297) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: dick greenhaus My own favorites (at least today) are The Good Boy and Silver in the Stubble. Both in the database. |
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08 Oct 97 - 08:12 PM (#14305) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: anna root An unusual one, and in the DT, is a version of "John Anderson, My Jo" where John's wife laments that
"John Anderson, my jo, John |
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08 Oct 97 - 09:46 PM (#14315) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Will Yes, Streets of London is great. It's in Rise Up Singing, too. |
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08 Oct 97 - 10:33 PM (#14319) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: dulcimer Check out a song by the Carter Family, 1930, called The Little Log Hut in the Lane. It starts--
Mama says she don't want me cause I getting old. --- on Rounder C 1066 |
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09 Oct 97 - 03:06 PM (#14351) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: TomG Besides "September Song", which I'm sure you know, there is "Younger than Spring" and "Once Upon a Time". I am 62 and I sing these around the campfire when called upon for "old folks' songs. If you don't know the lyrics or can't find them, e-mail me at tgibson@mymail.com and I'll send them or put them here. Tom |
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09 Oct 97 - 09:10 PM (#14373) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Alan of Australia G'day, To anna root I may be wrong but I think the bawdy version of John Anderson my Jo is a Robbie Burns version.
Cheers, |
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10 Oct 97 - 10:43 AM (#14407) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Whippoorwill Running the gamut from the sloppily sentimental to the sublimely ridiculous, there's "Old Dogs and Children and Watermelon Wine," and from the '40s, "He's Too Old to Cut the Mustard Any More." |
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10 Oct 97 - 02:41 PM (#14431) Subject: Lyr Add: WHEN THIS OLD HAT WAS NEW From: LaMarca Some others that fit, just off the top of my head: WHEN THIS OLD HAT WAS NEW (trad, from Chris Foster)
Come listen to my song Provisions now are twice as dear As when that we were young The poor are quite done o'er We know this to be true, But it was not so when Bess did reign And this old hat was new, When this old hat was new Silver In the Stubble by Sidney Carter, in the DT here In the Rare Ol' Times - Pete St. John's depressing song about Dublin's changes over the years. DT has it here (without an author listed, and some garbling of verses...) Time Has Made A Change In Me - in the DT here What's the Life of a Man? (in the DT here
A man has his seasons, so why should he grieve Although in this life we appear fine and gay Like the leaves we must wither and soon fade away Generations of Change - old man reminiscing about the change in trades in Scotland over the years, by Scottish songwriter Matt Armor, in DT here
And how can we forget the oldest man (woman?) of all in |
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11 Oct 97 - 02:35 PM (#14472) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Tim Jaques tjaques@netcom.ca Oscar Brand recorded "I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago". I have it on vinyl. (Whatever happened to him, anyway?) Alison, "Kilkelly" must be one of the most depressing songs I've ever seen. |
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11 Oct 97 - 08:08 PM (#14491) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Bill D Oscar Brand did a couple of programs at local (Wash DC)libraries just a few months ago...I didn't go...but I guess he is doing ok... |
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11 Oct 97 - 08:57 PM (#14496) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Alice dick.. I looked at the list under @age* and found some really touching gems like FARAWAY TOM, which I have never heard. Makes me want to find all the recordings Jean Redpath has ever done. Alice in Montana |
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12 Oct 97 - 01:25 AM (#14506) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Bill D I think I have 95% of everything she has ever recorded...never got tired of hearing her....heard her first in 1963.....checked out a record from the library....most are still available in some form.... |
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12 Oct 97 - 06:15 PM (#14551) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Doug Ramsey One of my favorite songs about growing old is "75 Septembers" by Cheryl Wheeler. The most accessible recording of it is on the Peter Paul and Mary lifelines album... |
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12 Oct 97 - 07:36 PM (#14554) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Bruce Alan, Burns had nothing to do with the bawdy "John Anderson my Jo". The first version in DT, except for verse order and spelling is practically the same as that in 'The Masque', 2nd edit. 1768. Burns was then 9 years old. A version of five verses is in "Philomel', 1744, reprinted in the first volume of 'The Comic Miscellany,' 1756. The later version is also in other songbooks before its appearance in 'The Merry Muses of Caledonia' (1799), and appears with its tune in 'The Convivial Songster' 1782. |
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13 Oct 97 - 04:32 AM (#14589) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: PHIL THOMAS Sam Eskin sang "My children are laughing behind my back..." on his 10" Folkways LP. A great antidote to ageism. |
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13 Oct 97 - 06:33 PM (#14645) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: alison hi Yes I agree the "Kilkelly" is depressing, but it's also supposed to be true. Apparently there is a collection of the letters somewhere in the US (in a museum) and someone thought it would make a good song. Slainte alison |
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14 Oct 97 - 02:41 AM (#14691) Subject: Lyr Add: TIME'S ALTERATION; OR, THE OLD MAN'S... From: Bruce Ref. LeMarca, Oct.10 "When this old hat was new" is in Whitaker's 'North Countrie Ballads', 1921 (and nowhere else?). I once saw this book, (where?) but, unfortunately, did not copy this song. What may be an earlier version is:
Time's Alteration; Or, To the tune of Ile nere be drunke againe. When this old cap was new,
Twelve more verses contrasting old times with the new, with the burden 'When this old cap was new' throughout. 'New' being c 1618-29. By Martin Parker. Broadside Index- ZN2893.
Some other 17th century ballads about some of the problems of old age- [first line/ref #/title]:
All you that fathers be/ ZN131| A Ballad Intituled, The Old mans complaint.
There are also many ballads about old people, including some who wouldn't act like others expected (i.e, bawdy). There is also one about the Dutch Miller who put old wives and harlots into his mill and ground out tender young virgins (adapted from an earlier German illustrated broadsheet). A cheap print of a large engraving of this mill was a very popular wall decoration in English county cottages in the 18th century).
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14 Oct 97 - 04:44 AM (#14700) Subject: Lyr Add: THE OLD MAN'S SONG (Ian Campbell)^^ From: Pete M One song not mentioned so far and which unites this thread with the one work / labour is simply "the old mans song" written by Ian Campbell. It is also a possibly unconcious precursor /influence to Bogles Now I'm easy.
Most of the lyrics follow but there are two lines I can't recall. Anyone help? |
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14 Oct 97 - 02:41 PM (#14727) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Peter T. Continuing thanks for contributions. This group never fails to surprise and delight. "Old Rocking Chair's Got Me"... Yours, Peter |
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15 Oct 97 - 06:08 AM (#14769) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Wolfgang The Old Man's Song (Tale) for Pete M.: Thanks for reminding me that fine song. I have a slightly different version of it (from the Big Red Songbook). Here are the missing bits in my version: verse 3, line 3: "I lived on mud and tears and blood, three years or thereabouts"
verse 7: "My daughter was a landgirl, she got married to a Yank, my version knows an extra verse, before your last verse:
verse 7b: "My daughter writes me once a month, a cheerful little note, Regards Wolfgang |
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15 Oct 97 - 06:33 AM (#14770) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Steve D. There's a couple of Pete Seeger numbers I can think of. One goes 'How do I know my youth is all spent, my get up and go has got up and went'(!). The other is a ramble on the 'Precious Friend' CD (with Arlo Guthrie) about a song that Lee Hayes wrote. Also good (though not strictly relevant) is 'Old Horse' as sung by Martin Carthy. |
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18 Oct 97 - 10:14 PM (#14952) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Pete M Thanks to Wolfgang for the missing lines. I think they are the same version actually, just my memory failing! |
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20 Oct 97 - 08:19 PM (#15013) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: David F Wasn't it Sinatra that sang "It was a very good year"? As in "When I was 17 It was a very good year...." Then there was an old song with the refrain "Ain't a gonna need this house no longer, ain't a gonna need this house no more...." Both of these are good "Old" songs. |
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21 Oct 97 - 09:25 AM (#15025) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Peter T. Continuing thanks. David, that reminds me of "Yesterday, when I was young" (first line of a song by a famous country and western singer whose name, like rain upon my tongue, I can't at this moment recall). I will curse myself -- age, age, can remember faces, but... Yours, Peter |
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21 Oct 97 - 05:42 PM (#15036) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Bill D I can never remember faces, but I always forget a name....(at least, I think that's how it goes....) |
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04 Nov 97 - 07:07 PM (#15738) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Kate One of my favorites is Jimmy Buffet's "The Captain and the Kid." Also, Simon and Garfunkel's "Bookends." I suppose the protagonists in "Hobo's Lullaby" and "Mr. Bojangles" (both are in the database) are not all that old chronologically, but I'm inclined to include them anyway, since they seem to have lived too long for the demands of the open road. |
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10 Nov 97 - 03:26 PM (#16044) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Rob Derrick On the Makem&Clancy concert album, they do one called about a _very_ old man. |
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22 Nov 97 - 10:42 PM (#16532) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: mim 'Freewheelin' Now' by Jim Reid on the CD of the same name. It's not about really old, only 50, but it's a definitely positive outlook. And nobody's mentioned Maurice Chevalier singing "I'm glad I'm not young anymore." |
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23 Nov 97 - 03:17 AM (#16541) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: rastrelnikov I think one of my favourite songs on this topic is Clear Away in the Morning by Gordon Bok. It's in the DT. One of the great lines is when the singer tries to describe a woman he knew Nancy, oh my Nancy But he knows he can't put it in words. He just repeats Nancy, oh my Nancy. Not only is the poor fellow to old to work a sailing ship anymore, he can't even relate his experiences, just the memories of the emotions. It's on the first Makem and Clancy album, I believe. |
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24 Nov 97 - 03:55 PM (#16596) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Bert There's that great song by Utah Phillips. "The Goodnight Trail & the Loving Trail" ...and the Old Woman's lonesome tonight... |
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24 Nov 97 - 04:05 PM (#16601) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Jaxon The Clancy Brithers recorded "The 2,000 Year Old Alcoholic". Top That! |
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24 Nov 97 - 10:07 PM (#16628) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Bill Wood Bruce Philip's "old woman" in the Goodnight Loving Trail is the cook on the cattle drive; He has another great song about aging -- All Used up -- I can post lyrics if they're not available. |
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26 Nov 97 - 01:21 PM (#16718) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Nonie Rider Of course, if you want silly rather than touching, there's "Old Blevins" by the Austin Lounge Lizards: guy has a fight with his woman, goes into a bar, and is earnestly confronted by Old Blevins, who has some words of wisdom for him:
And he said "Bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla In San Francisco After several verses of this (with some silly insertion lines including "Bla bla bla Had no effect on me" and "Bla bla bla bla bla Mistakes were made"), the younger guy has indeed found the wisdom he was seeking, and goes back to make up with his woman so that he doesn't end up a lonely old fool in a bar muttering "Bla bla" to strangers.
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16 Jul 00 - 09:43 PM (#258915) Subject: LYR ADD: Look up for "When this old hat" From: Jeri Refresh for song collection. |
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16 Jul 00 - 10:24 PM (#258933) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: celticblues5 The Jacques Brel song is in the Judy Collins songbook. It's a beautiful piece just as an instrumental, too. I guess I always thought the naughty version of "John Anderson, My Jo" was the original and that the bowdlerized (sp?) version came later! ;-) I can't believe no one's mentioned (unless I've missed it) "Maids, When You're Young, Never Wed an Old Man." It's in the DT. |
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17 Jul 00 - 11:46 AM (#259236) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: SINSULL The Everly Bros. did "Rocking Alone in an Old Rocking Chair" The Gay Nineties Classic "Will You Love Me In December As You Do In May?" |
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17 Jul 00 - 08:39 PM (#259630) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Uncle_DaveO Robert Lee, I'm glad I looked through the thread. I was in a hurry, and was about to commit the sin of adding to it without having seen if anyone had already put in what I was about to do, and Lo and Behold, you had already referred, though in incomplete form, to "Get Up And Go," which is one of my great favorites. I sing this all the time, and am glad to know that you like it too. Dave Oesterreich |
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17 Jul 00 - 09:39 PM (#259685) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: reggie miles Here's one I don't believe anyone's mentioned yet, "You're Gonna Look Just Like A Monkey When You Get Old". I have a copy of this by The Siegel/Schwall Band. |
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17 Jul 00 - 09:44 PM (#259691) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Mbo Hah! What about "My Generation" by The Who? Or "These Are The Days of Our Lives" by Queen? --Mbo |
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17 Jul 00 - 10:06 PM (#259704) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,Arkie Bryan Bower's recorded "The Hollywood Hotel" about a grandmother in a rest home and "Old Lovers" which is on the positive side. Phil Ochs' "Flower Lady" is also a touching piece, assuming the flower lady is old. There is the western classic "I'd Like to Be in Texas (When They Roundup in the Spring)." |
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18 Jul 00 - 12:02 AM (#259768) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: bob jr there is also a great song about being old by The Band, called rockin' chair
oh to be home again
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18 Jul 00 - 12:30 AM (#259782) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: JamesJim I am trying to remember a song written by Chet Atkins, about 7 or 8 years ago. It was about the memory of his father. I simply could not listen to him sing it without crying. Somewhere, I have a tape and I'm ashamed to admit that although I once learned it (it moved me so), it is now lost in the fuzzy files of my memory. This surely is a sign of age. Please help me remember it. |
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18 Jul 00 - 12:34 AM (#259787) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Mbo Queen also does a cool skiffle/vaudeville type songs called "Good Company" about getting older. A funny song, with ukelele and elecric guitars imitating a Dixieland jazz band! --Mbo |
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18 Jul 00 - 05:32 AM (#259850) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST A favorite of mine is Ralph McTell's song Naomi. It's in the forum here |
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18 Jul 00 - 01:39 PM (#260160) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: The Shambles Autumn Gold. A link to The Mudcat Songbook. |
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18 Jul 00 - 01:43 PM (#260165) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Mbo "Just No Time At All" from the musical Pippin by Stephen Schwartz. --Mbo |
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18 Jul 00 - 01:56 PM (#260171) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: TheOldMole The Bard of Armagh |
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18 Jul 00 - 04:25 PM (#260305) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: SINSULL "When Your Old Wedding Ring Was New." |
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18 Jul 00 - 05:42 PM (#260381) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,Nancy King There's a dandy labor song called "Too old to work and too young to die." I have a record of it somewhere--Pete Seeger, maybe? Nancy |
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18 Jul 00 - 06:23 PM (#260410) Subject: Lyr Add: VERONICA (Elvis Costello) From: Lonesome EJ VERONICA Is it all in that pretty little head of yours? What goes on in that place in the dark? Well I used to know a girl and I would have sworn that her name was Veronica Well she used to have a carefree mind of her own and a delicate look in her eye These days I'm afraid she's not even sure if her name is Veronica CHORUS: Do you suppose, that waiting hands on eyes, Veronica has gone to hide? And all the time she laughs at those who shout her name and steal her clothes Veronica Veronica Did the days drag by? Did the favours wane? Did he roam down the town all the time? Will you wake from your dream, with a wolf at the door, reaching out for Veronica Well it was all of sixty-five years ago When the world was the street where she lived And a young man sailed on a ship in the sea With a picture of Veronica On the "Empress of India" And as she closed her eyes upon the world and picked upon the bones of last week's news She spoke his name out loud again Chorus Veronica sits in her favourite chair and she sits very quiet and still And they call her a name that they never get right and if they don't then nobody else will But she used to have a carefree mind of her own, with a devilish look in her eye Saying "You can call me anything you like, but my name is Veronica" Chorus Elvis Costello wrote this song about his aunt. |
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01 Jan 01 - 01:10 PM (#366758) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: jaze Lover's Return--recorded by The Carter Family/Linda and Emmylou and also Kate Wolf Old Friends by Mary McCaslin |
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01 Jan 01 - 01:17 PM (#366761) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Amergin I imagine that Kat could write her own songs about getting really old.... |
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01 Jan 01 - 01:30 PM (#366763) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: kendall Nancy King - "Weave and Spin" is the song - "Aragon Mill" |
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01 Jan 01 - 01:33 PM (#366765) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Peter T. I was a lot younger when this thread began (cue for a song!!!!)yours, Peter T. |
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01 Jan 01 - 01:44 PM (#366766) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Lanfranc Can't believe I missed this thread on it's previous iterations, but still, here's my Euro 0.02 worth! "Old Man" 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. |
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01 Jan 01 - 01:52 PM (#366771) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Lanfranc Correction - Home from the Forest is in the DT |
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01 Jan 01 - 02:01 PM (#366773) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: rangeroger Tom Rush does a great version of Murray McLauchlan's "The Old Man's 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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01 Jan 01 - 03:58 PM (#366815) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: R! 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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01 Jan 01 - 05:40 PM (#366844) Subject: Lyr Add: 75 SEPTEMBERS^^ From: Ribbit Peter Paul, and Mary have a great song "75 Septembers" written by Cheryl Wheeler.
Inthe year of the yellow cab
Reminds me a lot of the way my dad grew up. |
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16 Feb 02 - 05:51 AM (#651413) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Genie Years From Now Where've You Been? Love, Me Old Love A Daisy A Day |
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16 Feb 02 - 06:36 AM (#651425) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: McGrath of Harlow At 97 posts (98 now) this is a bit long for many people to load - so I've put up a part 2, and suggest people continue posting there rather than here. |
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02 Apr 04 - 11:04 PM (#1153311) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,farmer77jo@yahoo.ca Any suggestions for a birthday party of 3 folks turning 40, 50 and 60 all at the same time (roughly)??? |
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03 Apr 04 - 05:29 AM (#1153441) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,eileen Also surprised to see (unless I missed it) When You and I Were Young Maggie..particularly the version that mentions "the creaking old mill". |
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20 Dec 05 - 02:44 AM (#1631067) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,bhood624@yahoo.com Hi, I'm hoping someone has the lyrics to Mary McCaslin's Old Friends. I heard it sung as a tribute to a friend recently and can't find the words. Thanks, Barbara |
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20 Dec 05 - 03:51 PM (#1631618) Subject: Lyr Add: TOO OLD TO DIE YOUNG (Murray Grand) From: C-flat TOO OLD TO DIE YOUNG Murray Grand Gmaj9 Gm7 Let me run in front of trucks, smash the mirrors on my walls, Gmaj9 Am7 Bm7 Cmaj7 Bm7 Let me puff away and choke, sniff a little coke, and have myself a E9 ball. Am7 D9 G What the hell! I'm too old to die young. Let me walk against the lights. Let me drive while I am drunk. Let me be a little hip, take a little trip, and try a little junk. After all, I'm too old to die young. Cm7 F9 Let me pick up strangers in the street, Bm7 E9 Sleep with ev'ryone I meet, (middle) Am7 D7-9 Sleep in dives along the docks, Eb9+11 vodka on the rocks Let me stay a little stoned who's to know and who's to care let me take another trip, be a little hip, breathe polluted air What the hell, when your spring has been sprung, after all I'm too old to die young. Let me sing away all my blues, fall in pot-holes if I choose When people say I'm a sight, they're probably right! (middle) Let my face begin to fall let it wrinkle like a prune well I know my liver's gone, when I'm lying on the floor of some saloon Give me speed, give me hash, let me fly, let me crash, drop the bomb on my head, not a word will be said, not a moan, not a sigh, as I kiss my assets goodbye, after all I'm too old to die young. C-flat |
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21 Dec 05 - 07:47 AM (#1632035) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: ossonflags "200 year old alchoholic" |
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02 Jun 07 - 10:07 PM (#2066857) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,lumpyhand ...but perhaps the saddest song of all is My Mom by Chocolate Genius - it is on Itunes or Google it - it was also on Spinner's recent list of the top 25 Most Exquisitly Sad Songs: "And five times exactly no more or no less She says how you been eating boy? I say okay I guess In this room where she made me each day she grows weak She flips on the Golden Girls and the first tear hits my cheek" ...for anyone whoever had a parent, friend or relative die of Alzheimer's (for me my mother)this song hits you right in the emotional gut - check it out - hope you like it. |
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02 Jun 07 - 11:01 PM (#2066889) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,meself I think we should pause for a moment to remember all those who were really old back when this thread started ... |
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02 Jun 07 - 11:12 PM (#2066895) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Big Jim from Jackson Australia's John Williamson does a song called "Wrinkles" that I really like. The Kossoy Sisters have a song "An Old Love Song" that is wonderfully funny. |
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03 Jun 07 - 05:27 PM (#2067575) Subject: Lyr Add: MISTS OF TIME From: Ebbie Guest/Lumpyhand, I have a song about Alzheimers- or some kind of dementia: Mists of Time I remember I once had a family And I know that I was happy then For I can see their bright little faces But I don't know where or when Memories lost in the mists of time I don't know much anymore The years, the days, the hours All run together Memories lost in the mists of time Yesterday Or was it just this morning? They gathered 'round my rocking chair I recall the scent of many candles But I knew nobody there. I like Jesse Winchester's 'We'll Never be this Young Again'. And the new? song: Bed by the Window |
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03 Jun 07 - 07:42 PM (#2067667) Subject: Lyr Add: OLD FRIENDS (Mary McCaslin) From: Stewart OLD FRIENDS -- Mary McCaslin I saw an old friend the other day, in San Francisco, by the bay. It took me back to only yesterday, the years somehow let slip away. We laughed and talked about the days gone by, and brushed a tear away with a sigh. We promised not to let it be this long, like the old refrain from an old, old song. Chorus: Remember old friends we've made along the way. The gifts they've given stay with us every day. Looking back it makes me wonder, where we've gone and how long we'll stay. I know the road brings rain and thunder, but for the journey, what will we pay? I often think the time get crazier as this old world goes 'round and 'round, But just the memory makes it easier, as the highway goes up and down. Lately word's been coming back to me, there's a few I will no longer see. Their faces will be seen no more along the road, there'll be a few less hands to hold. But for the ones whose journey's ended, though they started so much the same. In the hearts of those befriended, burns a candle with a silver flame. A very late answer to Barbara's request 20 Dec 05 And a sound clip HERE . One of my favorite songs by Mary. Cheers, S. in Seattle |
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03 Jun 07 - 07:51 PM (#2067675) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,meself Think I mentioned this on another thread once ... Sonny Boy Williamson II has a song called "Too Old to Think". Not one of his cheerier numbers ... |
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03 Jun 07 - 08:47 PM (#2067720) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Joe_F Stan Rogers, "Sailor's Rest" Tom Lehrer, "When You Are Old and Gray" |
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03 Jun 07 - 10:31 PM (#2067784) Subject: Lyr Add: YESTERDAY WHEN I WAS YOUNG From: Bugsy For a song about growing old, you can't (IMO) go past Yesterday When I Was Young Yesterday when I was young the taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue. I teased at life as if it were a foolish game, the way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame. The thousand dreams I dreamed, the splendid things I planned I always built alas on weak and shifting sand. I lived by night and shunned the naked light of the day and only now I see how the years ran away. Yesterday when I was young so many drinking songs were waiting to be sung, so many wayward pleasures lay in store for me and so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see. I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out, I never stopped to think what life was all about and every conversation I can now recall concerned itself with me and nothing else at all. Yesterday the moon was blue and every crazy day brought something new to do. I used my magic age as if itwere a wand and never saw the waste and emptiness beyond. The game of love I played with arrogance and pride and every flame I lit too quickly quickly died. The friends I made all seemed somehow to drift away and only I am left on stage to end the play. There are so many songs in me that won't be sung, I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue. The time has come for me to pay for yesterday when I was young. CHeers Bugsy adyedinthewoolaznavourfan. |
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03 Jun 07 - 10:44 PM (#2067793) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: EBarnacle How'd we get this far without mentioning the Dutchman? re: Seeger's "How do I know my youth is all spent?..." I once asked him how come the melody is so similar to Officer Krempke's chorus in Bernstein's West Side Story. He commented that they are probably both descended from Fair Harvard. |
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03 Jun 07 - 11:21 PM (#2067817) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST "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 ... |
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03 Jun 07 - 11:21 PM (#2067818) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,meself (That was me). |
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04 Jun 07 - 06:52 AM (#2067986) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,Black Hawk at work How about - Waylon Jennings 'White Hair and Yellow Teeth'. Mo Bandy - 'Too Old to Die Young' Johnny Cash - 'The Masterpiece' |
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04 Jun 07 - 09:42 AM (#2068106) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,john f weldon ...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 |
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04 Jun 07 - 10:55 AM (#2068168) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: SINSULL Utah Phillips "Golden Mansions" |
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04 Jun 07 - 02:40 PM (#2068362) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego 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! |
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04 Jun 07 - 02:50 PM (#2068372) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego 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..... |
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04 Jun 07 - 02:53 PM (#2068375) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Ebbie Wow. Yesterday When I was Young- I've got to hear it. |
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04 Jun 07 - 03:01 PM (#2068383) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,Nicholas Waller 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 |
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04 Jun 07 - 03:11 PM (#2068394) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Ebbie 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. |
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04 Jun 07 - 04:48 PM (#2068493) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,meself 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'. |
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04 Jun 07 - 06:20 PM (#2068582) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,Nicholas Waller 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). |
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04 Jun 07 - 07:44 PM (#2068649) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego 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. |
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04 Jun 07 - 09:41 PM (#2068717) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Joe_F 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. |
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05 Jun 07 - 04:34 AM (#2068866) Subject: Lyr Add: I'M OLD (Reggie Miles) From: GUEST,reggie miles 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 |
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05 Jun 07 - 07:30 AM (#2068938) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Bugsy GReat words Reggie, What's the tune like? Cheers Bugsy |
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05 Jun 07 - 08:30 AM (#2068996) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: mandotim Steve Ashley's wonderful song 'Take the Rough with the Smooth'. Tim |
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05 Jun 07 - 02:02 PM (#2069282) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,reggie miles 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 |
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05 Jun 07 - 02:13 PM (#2069293) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,Jim 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) |
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05 Jun 07 - 02:50 PM (#2069331) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,meself Days of '49. |
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05 Jun 07 - 03:03 PM (#2069341) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: KB in Iowa "Arthritis Blues" by Ramblin' Jack Elliott (on the CD 'I Stand Alone') |
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05 Jun 07 - 03:19 PM (#2069358) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Ebbie 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. |
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05 Jun 07 - 04:34 PM (#2069405) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,meself 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. |
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05 Jun 07 - 05:08 PM (#2069437) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,john f weldon 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 |
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05 Jun 07 - 09:14 PM (#2069617) Subject: Lyr Add: FREEWHEELING (parody) From: Tattie Bogle 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 |
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06 Jun 07 - 05:16 AM (#2069791) Subject: Lyr Add: TWO-HUNDRED YEAR OLD ALCOHOLIC (L Clancy) From: Scorpio 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 |
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06 Jun 07 - 10:51 AM (#2069973) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: reggie miles 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 |
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06 Jun 07 - 11:05 AM (#2069986) Subject: Lyr Add: AGE LIKE WINE (Todd Snider) From: GUEST,Jim 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. |
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06 Jun 07 - 07:47 PM (#2070359) Subject: Lyr Add: LUCILLE (Fred Eaglesmith) From: GUEST,Jim 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. |
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30 Sep 07 - 12:38 PM (#2160455) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Peace Refresh |
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30 Sep 07 - 04:08 PM (#2160583) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Relson Tom Rush's "The Remember Song" |
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30 Sep 07 - 09:12 PM (#2160770) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: bankley "The Last Ride" recorded by Hank Snow.... written by Halcomb and Daffen. A superb hobo song. |
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30 Sep 07 - 09:21 PM (#2160776) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: SINSULL Old and Gray and Only in the Way |
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01 Oct 07 - 10:05 AM (#2161074) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,Neil D 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. |
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01 Oct 07 - 10:10 AM (#2161083) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: PMB 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. |
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01 Oct 07 - 11:32 AM (#2161164) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,Jim I didn't read the whole thread, but did anyone mention Mike Smith's The Dutchman? |
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01 Oct 07 - 07:31 PM (#2161488) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Nick E 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) |
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02 Oct 07 - 01:09 PM (#2162094) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,Jim 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. |
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02 Oct 07 - 07:53 PM (#2162412) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Relson 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! |
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02 Oct 07 - 10:06 PM (#2162459) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Melissa 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" |
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02 Oct 07 - 11:04 PM (#2162491) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST OLD AND IN THE WAY.....jerry garcia |
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03 Oct 07 - 04:53 AM (#2162552) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,PMB 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 |
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03 Oct 07 - 06:49 PM (#2163180) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,Mike B. "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. |
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04 Oct 07 - 07:04 PM (#2164025) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,Neil Patches (George Jones) |
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05 Oct 07 - 01:40 PM (#2164568) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego 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. |
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05 Oct 07 - 07:05 PM (#2164759) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Susan B 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 |
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24 Oct 07 - 10:51 AM (#2178136) Subject: Lyr Add: SLIPPERS (Bernie Martin) From: GUEST,Jim 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. |
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24 Oct 07 - 08:33 PM (#2178548) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: Joe_F Cyril Tawney's "In the sidings" |
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26 Apr 23 - 11:55 PM (#4170916) Subject: RE: Songs about getting really old? From: reggie miles Here's a link to an audio recording of I'm Old |
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28 Apr 23 - 12:29 AM (#4170988) Subject: These Are The Days From: Holly Tannen 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 |