To listen, click the play button below:
C . . . F . . . F . . . C . . .
Dm . . . C . . . G . . . C . . .
Down in the valley, where the grass has stopped growing
In the empty open plain where you’ll find no wind blowing
There lives an old man, just as sharp as a tack
He lives all alone in an old wooden shack
He’s got all the answers, there isn’t any doubt
There is no solution that he could live without
There’s no need for wonder with brains like he’s got
He’s not even bothered by the things he’s forgot
With all his explanations to fend off the fright
You can sure bet your britches he sleeps well at night
The darkness doesn’t bother him, nor does old age
He always knows what to expect on the next page
The birds all have left him the clouds have gone by
The color has faded from the berries in his pie
He clings on so tightly to his answers so dear
Laying waste to the mysteries he can’t stand to hear
He’s been there forever, and forever he’ll stay
If you’re looking for an answer its your lucky day
Go see him if you want to, he loves his own kind
And please would tell him that I’m doing fine
La la, la la la la…
* * *
[...] music about them before (actually, that may be a half-truth), but the point is: COOL! Check out the short simple folk song Skip Wiley wrote about Moses being high on psychedelics when he went to meet God. Honestly, I don’t think God [...]
WTF is the comment above me? Is that a ping back or something like that? Anyway, what is this one about? I think I know!
Its a trackback, Steve — if my blog post about apples has a URL to your blog post about oranges, a new comment (a trackback) will automatically be added to your oranges post so you know someone linked to you. So in the case above, Tim linked to my song post in a recent entry. To read his entry, just click link in the “from” field. This is all assuming that each blog allows trackbacks… they can be turned off by either party.
As for what this song is about, did you follow the URL on the “He’s got all the answers” line in the lyrics? Check that article out… this song is my response. I had a million things I wanted to say but was unable to articulate… so I wrote this song! Here is a quote from Tim (blogger above) that sums it up perfectly.
this is sweet and lovely and true.
Ok, at first I thought it wasn’t what I thought it was about, and then I thought “no, its what I thought it was about!”
ANYWAY! I think the old man is the same world view that would say that Moses and his story can be explained by saying “oh, he was on drugs…” He needs an explanation for everything, there can be no mystery, indeed he has forgotten that mystery exists. He knows everything… and the grass no longer grows around him.
It’s the culture, man! I didn’t read either of the links, and I’m 70% certain that I’m just seeing what I want to see…
This all reminds me of a line from HP7 – when Harry asks Dumbledore “Is this all just happening in my mind, or is this real?” and Dumbledore says “Of course its all happening in your mind, but why on earth would that make it not real?” – or something like that!