New Lyrics: the story of an old man

Hi All,

The following lyrics are based on an 82-year-old relative of mine back home. I have known the man since I was a kid. Everything in the song is true to his life.

Please have at it; any input is appreciated.

Thank you,

Best,

CC

I CAN'T COMPLAIN

(V.1)

He's blind

In one eye.

The hearing's almost gone,

After 60 years

He lost his wife,

He tells jokes

From way back then

Then forgets and tells them again

And laughs at the stories of his life

(Chorus)

He's an old man, sitting in the sun

In a world that's going crazy,

He's just trying to go on.

His memories are his flowers

He tends to them alone

They're as fresh as the roses

That he places by her stone

(1 measure, then coda to chorus):

He knows his evening's coming,

He hasn't lived in vain,

He smiles to himself and softly says:

"I can't complain."

(V.2)

They had land,

Where they worked,

Raising crops and raising kids

Endless days of plowing in the heat,

The farm got sold,

An empty nest

They had earned their chance to rest

No more planting soybeans, corn or wheat

(Chorus)

He's an old man, sitting in the sun

In a world that's going crazy,

He's just trying to go on.

His memories are his flowers

He tends to them alone

They're as fresh as the roses

That he places by her stone

(Bridge)

One day she had to leave him

And not come back again,

He sits and waits to join her,

And sometimes wonders "when?"

(Chorus)

He's an old man, sitting in the sun

In a world that's going crazy,

He's just trying to go on.

His memories are his flowers

He tends to them alone

They're as fresh as the roses

That he places by her stone

(1 measure, then revised Coda to Chorus.)

He knows his evening's coming

He hasn't lived in vain

I sit and watch him, thinking to myself:

"I can't complain."

END.

@2006 C. Harding

This sounds like a modern country song.

That may seem offensive to you, maybe it is. But it has that "everything's wrapped up into a nice little package" way about it. Everything rhymes, everybody's happy.

The chorus is a little weird. I like the bit about the flowers; the first half is awkward.

Chicken Monkey,

Thanks for your input; no offense taken at all. We all have different viewpoints.

I know what you are saying about it perhaps getting a bit too smooth and, yes, if somobody ran this one through 'the Nashville Machine', I could easily hear it as a country tune.

I hope, when I come up with an arrangement that it won't be the case.

As the chorus stands, I like it right now. But, changes are always possible.

Best,

CC