From the recording Straight To Marrow
Clint Alphin – Lead Vocals, Harmony Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Banjo
Neilson Hubbard – Bass, Drums, Melotron, Organ, Piano (“Patchwork Journey”)
Kris Donegan – Guitars
Pat Buchanan – Guitars (“The Exception,” “You Lied,” “Should Have Loved”)
Will Kimbrough – Guitars (“Bless Your Heart”)
Evan Hutchings – Drums (“Ain’t That Something,” “Out To California,” “Grandfather; Grandmother”)
Dan Mitchell – Piano (“Bless Your Heart”)
Dean Marold – Bass (“Prove Me Wrong,” “Nobody’s Perfect,” “Patchwork Journey,” “Write Me Off”)
Lindsay Ellyn – Harmony Vocals (“You Lied,” “Should Have Loved”)
Audrey Spillman Hubbard – Harmony Vocals (“Grandfather; Grandmother”)
Mia Rose Lynne – Harmony Vocals (“Prove Me Wrong,” “Write Me Off”)
Lyrics
My grandfather was a businessman,
he built a grocery store with his brother and
he taught me the value of a dollar.
Back before I was born, he won a boat
got second place selling Ivory soap
so my daddy grew up on the water.
He couldn’t use a hammer
or a wrench to save his life
but I’ve never seen a man do better
by his children and his wife.
And he would wrap his arm around me
in that old country church
and sing those base and baritone harmonies
like I have never heard
baptized in the water; that was my grandfather.
My grandmother made a house a home,
she wrote a poem for every one of her children,
she knew her way around a kitchen.
But she worked every day in that business too
and she kept it running like you’re supposed to do;
she was a beauty, all of four foot eleven.
She would write folks letters
on the backs of old greeting cards,
and she would read to me
from a yellow book of stories that I’ve still got.
And she couldn’t wait for me to bring her home
some little country girl, but I never did
the last thing she said to me was
“Keep singing for the Lord.”
couldn’t ever love another like my grandmother
She said, “Love your children.
Worry about the big things,
let the little ones go.”
And he said, “Life is one big shot
out of a bow and arrow.
You better aim it right son
before you let it go.”
My grandmother was nine months younger
than my grandfather, the Lord looked down and said,
“That poor boy’s gonna’ need some help.”
They met each other in a five and dime,
spent seventy three years side-by-side
and she followed him three weeks
after his last breath.
She said, “Love your children.
Worry about the big things,
let the little ones go.”
And he said, “Life is one big shot
out of a bow and arrow.
You better aim it right son
before you let it go.”
Baptized in the water; that was my grandfather
Couldn’t ever love another like my grandmother.
Clint Alphin
© 2019