He was an old man
He had fourteen sons
And he didnʼt always mention his daughters
He was a lame man
He had a bad war wound
He chased the ship that gave it to him and caught her
He had grandkids
Theyʼd come to visit
They were young and they were full of wonder
But he wasnʼt happy
He lost his dear wife
To some sleepy truckerʼs midnight blunder
There were tools in the garage
There were shotguns in the closet
There were too many things not to touch
He was never really friendly to the children he was close to
He might have loved ʻem but not too much
He had wire racks
He had glass jars
Full of nuts and bolts and things he no longer used
There was an organ
That his wife use to play
And a cabinet that he would keep full of booze
And every once in a while
You could get that old man to smile
And then itʼs like the heavens would ring
I never saw it last long
Ah, but now that he is gone
Thatʼs the only thing that means anything
music & lyric: Don Chaffer
Don Chaffer- gang bgvs, drum programming, elec gits, string arrangements, wah lead elec
Lori Chaffer- bgvs, vocals
Isaac Anderson- drums, gang bgvs, claps, shaker
Mike Crawford- bass, gang bgvs, claps
Greg LaFollette- synth, gang bgvs, claps, tambourine
Suzanne Wessel- violins
He had fourteen sons
And he didnʼt always mention his daughters
He was a lame man
He had a bad war wound
He chased the ship that gave it to him and caught her
He had grandkids
Theyʼd come to visit
They were young and they were full of wonder
But he wasnʼt happy
He lost his dear wife
To some sleepy truckerʼs midnight blunder
There were tools in the garage
There were shotguns in the closet
There were too many things not to touch
He was never really friendly to the children he was close to
He might have loved ʻem but not too much
He had wire racks
He had glass jars
Full of nuts and bolts and things he no longer used
There was an organ
That his wife use to play
And a cabinet that he would keep full of booze
And every once in a while
You could get that old man to smile
And then itʼs like the heavens would ring
I never saw it last long
Ah, but now that he is gone
Thatʼs the only thing that means anything
music & lyric: Don Chaffer
Don Chaffer- gang bgvs, drum programming, elec gits, string arrangements, wah lead elec
Lori Chaffer- bgvs, vocals
Isaac Anderson- drums, gang bgvs, claps, shaker
Mike Crawford- bass, gang bgvs, claps
Greg LaFollette- synth, gang bgvs, claps, tambourine
Suzanne Wessel- violins