Story Behind The Song

Watching my Uncles end their races and thinking about their lives.

Song Description

A younger man taking care of a lonely old man.

Lyrics

AN OLD MAN WHO
An old man who worked too hard
Everything he's built has all worn down
And all his loves are all memories
That share his lonely nights

He can't move like he used to
Nothing comes easy anymore
No view from this cheap hotel
Just a window to life's regret

His was a well-traveled road
At night a train whistle blows
Stepped in the world's ancient dust
Doesn't matter what he knows

Everything is behind him now
He prays to relive the past
His stories are all thread worn now
But he'll tell you if you ask
And I do.
He worked the rigs outside ole Fort Worth
Said he built bridges made of gold
Fished for cod off the cold Grand Banks
Watched the new swallow up the old

I looked at his gnarled hands
Bent by the weight of rock, steel and wood
A hero made by the work he's done
A man who worked just because he should

We drank a beer and I watched a tear fall
When he spoke of his wife Anna Mae
She left him after forty years
He said an angel took her away

He said,
That angel will come for him in a day or two
Just when I hear the last story told
And so it ends in a cheap hotel
Hearing the last whistle blow
For an old man who worked too hard


(c)Desert Windsong Music