Author: Joel D Canfield

Twenty-fifth reunion
I’d put on a little weight
She hadn’t changed in all those years
Still looked great
She caught me watching her across the room
Smiled over her glass
I wanted to dance with her right there and then
But I didn’t ask

I had a hard time back in school
Never did fit in
I didn’t know a thing about talkin’ to girls
Or know where to begin
We walked home down the same dirt road
Every day after class
I wanted to carry her books, or her
But I didn’t ask

No I didn’t ask her and now I regret it
All the time that’s passed
I would have given her the world if she’d wanted
But I didn’t ask

She married a hero
On the football team
Had two little kids and a perfect life
Least that’s how it seemed
When her world fell apart and she was on her own
Her life shattered like glass
I wanted to know if her heart had survived
But I didn’t ask

chorus

So there she was, across the room
Still givin’ me that smile
The handful of yards betweens
Felt like a mile
Well, give me a mile and I’ll take an inch
Somethin’ about my reach and my grasp
I wanted to know if she’d share my life
But I didn’t ask.

chorus, then
I would have given her the world if she’d wanted
But I didn’t ask

A
Think I’ll go into town, pick up some things
Piece of screen for the bathroom window
Hook for the front door so it don’t bang
When the wind blows
Set down this coffee, slip on my outside boots, head into town

Guess I’ll go into town, pick up some things
Laundry soap maybe a dish pan
Extra fork for when the kids come
Do what I can
Set down this coffee, slip on my outside boots
Get outta this rocker, and offa this porch, head into town

Ought to go into town, pick up some things
Few pairs of socks when I got somewhere to go
Maybe a few tapes I could play
Or a tube for the radio
Set down this coffee, slip on my outside boots
Get outta this rocker, and offa this porch
Then I’ll get to the shed, and fire up the truck, head into town

Time to head into town, pick up some things

This started creeping into my head and I couldn’t slow it down.

capo 3 Am Em
crackling fire in the corner
roasted Arabica mingled with spice
room full of people but I’m all alone
was a time when I wouldn’t thing twice

but the patter of rain on the window beside me
the rustle of pages in someone’s Moliere
the smell of somebody’s raspberry creamer
the shuffle of jeans on an old leather chair

D G
alone doesn’t mean lonely (x2)

no blood on my hands as far as I know
no blood blood blood blood just like Lady Macbeth
that car was a wreck and I’m glad that it’s gone
and who needs a boss with onion-laced breath

Marvelous Toy on XM radio
the city’s a washing machine, so Jordan says
I’m stuck in the rinse as I wait for the fire
burning my ships on the shore like Cortez

chorus

another hot cup full of cow and of cane juice
the news coming off on my fingers and hands
another dead tree smearing smudges around
another dead life full of no-man’s lands

my pen can’t compete with the barb of your words
the Gordian knot in my head is undone
you broke the window and I paid the damage
when you gave your word it was some other tongue

chorus

D G
maybe it means no more thinking about you
D A D
sometimes alone means better without you

capo 3, play in A | notes

there was a time not long ago
when a man’s word was his bond
if you shook on the deal it was signed and sealed
but those days are gone
seems these days you can’t trust anyone
to do what they said they would
the world has moved on good old days are gone
and I’m afraid they’re gone for good

I wanna ride off into the sunset
like a cowboy in the old west
I got no use for what’s goin’ on here
and I think it’d be for the best

there was a time not long ago
when a man really owned his own stuff
what he built with his hands, his home and his land
even when times were tough
seems these days it’s all just on loan
from a fellow down at the bank
but if we can’t pay and he takes it away
he says we’ve only ourselves to thank

chorus

there was a time young folks cared
to hear what an old man said
they showed concern for the lessons he’d learned
from the kind of life that he led
seems these days they don’t care what he knows
or if he’s got something to say
they couldn’t care less and I have to confess
that I’d rather just ride away

chorus
I got no use for what’s goin’ on here
and I think it’d be for the best

bass notes

T-C / C G during intro story

C           G    C         G
there was a time not long ago
       F     C            C    G
when a man’s word was his bond
       F            C           C          G      C
if you shook on the deal it was signed and sealed
    C              G    D
but those days are gone
C           G              C        G
seems these days you can’t trust anyone
   F            C         C     G
to do what they said they would
    F               C       C            G
the world has moved on good old days are gone
         C             G        C
and I’m afraid they’re gone for good

there was a time not long ago
when a man really owned his own stuff
what he built with his hands, his home and his land
even when times were tough
seems these days it’s all just on loan
from a fellow down at the bank
but if we can’t pay and he takes it away
he says we’ve only ourselves to thank

there was a time young folks cared
to hear what an old man said
they showed concern for the lessons he’d learned
from the kind of life that he led
seems these days they don’t care what he knows
or if he’s got something to say
they couldn’t care less and I have to confess
that I’d rather just ride away

capo 1 D
rocks and stones aplenty
enough to build a house if you’d a mind
though why you would beyond me
sunsets like the hand of God
clouds to flood the land if they’d a mind
but they never do they never do

a growing sickness creeping through the land
people doing things I cannot understand
I’ll stay just as long as I can
this ain’t no country for an old man

old folks raising grandkids; what happens
when the grandkids have their own?
who’s raising them? where does it end?
sky don’t seem as blue as when
I came out here in 53
might just be me it’s probably me
chorus

what’s lacking can’t be counted
what’s crooked won’t go straight
I’m picking one star
and I’m gonna follow it out the gate and down the road
chorus

Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men” spends a lot of time talking about what’s wrong with the world, and making a lot of sense.

The ‘country’ McCarthy referred to in Bell’s monologues was the region he lived in, not a geopolitical entity.

I intentionally sang it in too low a key to get the sound I wanted.

A children’s singalong I’m hoping is also witty enough for grownups.

Protect your pints.

capo 6 1-4-5 in A

notes
Em
we’ll be together
D
now and forever
Em D
like the sea and the earth and the sky
Em
yes we’ll live forever
D
always together
Em D Em
my golden-haired lady and I
Em D Em