• From: The Land Of Song
  • Registered: 2007-12-10
  • Posts: 5,649

Topic: Old Age

I'm afraid this is about me.


Old Age.           Phill Williams.

She comes home from the market.
Her hands full of bags.
I jump to my feet and get more from the car.
I see the look on her face and I know I've forgot.
Things I should do, but I know I have not.

The floor that needs sweeping.
The clothes to the wash.
The sink full of dishes.
My memory's gone!

Conversations I recall. Thirty years old.
Conversations yesterday, I'm afraid I don't know.
A face stands before me it smiles and says “hi”.
I smile back to her, but I don't know just why?
We met just last week, we spoke and discussed.
To me you're a stranger, I'm really not nuts.

Her voice is accusing.
Her eyes go all red.
I just get distracted.
My mind is a mess.

Some songs I've been singing since 1963.
Have gone line by line from my failing memory.
New songs? Forget it, they wont stay in place.
The one thing I remember is....
I'm becoming “old age”.

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.

Phill Williams's Website

  • TIGLJK
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Re: Old Age

good one Phill

unfortunately it is ........ wait a minute,  I lost track of what I was gonna say ......

Oh yea - I remember now,  had oatmeal for breakfast !! smile

Your vision is not limited by what your eye can see, but what your mind can imagine.
Make your life count, and the world will be a better place because you tried.

"Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except only the the best." - Henry Van Dyke
  • dino48
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  • From: los banos,california
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
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Re: Old Age

I like that a lot the lyrics have a lot of humor in them ,will we get too hear it in song form? Ya it fits the song title.

my papy said son your going too drive me too drinking if you dont stop driving that   Hot  Rod  Lincoln!! Cmdr cody and his lost planet airman
  • From: West Georgia
  • Registered: 2006-10-14
  • Posts: 2,557

Re: Old Age

This song could be about the stages of Early Onset Alzheimer's Dementia, Phill. At this point and even though it's only Stage IV, I still reach for the toothpaste instead of shaving cream and forget to rinse the conditioner out of my hair (looks a mess when I dry it!).

But I have fun with it. Did I ever tell you the story about going into the wrong bathroom in a restaurant and wondering where the urinals were? A story for another time, maybe.

Bill

Epiphone Les Paul Studio
Fender GDO300 Orchestral - a gift from Amy & Jim
Rogue Beatle Bass
Journal: www.wheretobud.blogspot. com
  • From: Wellington New Zealand
  • Registered: 2010-03-24
  • Posts: 1,346

Re: Old Age

Well Written Phill or did i already tell you that?

The King Of Audio Torture
  • From: Tooele Ut
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 4,049

Re: Old Age

That about explains it. Good one

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.
  • From: Tooele Ut
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 4,049

Re: Old Age

You hang in there Bill. I'm thinking about you

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.
  • From: Scott County, Virginia, U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2008-03-19
  • Posts: 794

Re: Old Age

Phill, I'm afraid this is about a lot of us.

Live in the "now" - a contentment of the moment - the past is gone - the future doesn't exist - all we ever really have is now and it's always "now".
  • Grah1
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  • From: Cold and rainy Settle UK
  • Registered: 2011-05-12
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Re: Old Age

Ditto all above Phill great observations and interpretations ,will it become a song or have you forgot the chords ..lol

Grah1's Website

  • arkady
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  • Registered: 2006-11-23
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Re: Old Age

Ah the bleakness of old age can't wait I think...

  • dino48
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Re: Old Age

arkady wrote:

Ah the bleakness of old age can't wait I think...

When you get there you can do bad things,dress lousy no exercise act crazy pick on young people and get away with it all. That's the up side too it.

my papy said son your going too drive me too drinking if you dont stop driving that   Hot  Rod  Lincoln!! Cmdr cody and his lost planet airman
  • From: The Land Of Song
  • Registered: 2007-12-10
  • Posts: 5,649

Re: Old Age

dino48 wrote:
arkady wrote:

Ah the bleakness of old age can't wait I think...

When you get there you can do bad things,dress lousy no exercise act crazy pick on young people and get away with it all. That's the up side too it.

tried that dino, it doesn't work with my family, my daughter usually just tells me to "get a grip, dad"

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.

Phill Williams's Website

  • From: The Land Of Song
  • Registered: 2007-12-10
  • Posts: 5,649

Re: Old Age

Grah1 wrote:

Ditto all above Phill great observations and interpretations ,will it become a song or have you forgot the chords ..lol

hiya grah.

of all the comments above, yours is the one i'm most happy to see, no offense to all you other guys. hope you're getting better. and thank your mate for keeping us up-dated and to keep posting for himself.

thanks again phill

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.

Phill Williams's Website

  • From: The Land Of Song
  • Registered: 2007-12-10
  • Posts: 5,649

Re: Old Age

hi bill, everything i describe has actually happened to me, but i was thinking about you as i wrote it, obviously not saying this is you as i don't know you personally except on chordie.

also as my mother-in-law died last year and she suffered with dementia for the last couple of years of her life (she was in her 90's) i could see her frustration and pain. i can, as most have shown here, see the funny side of some of the stuff that we do and hope that it wont happen to me, like us all.

so i'm dedicating this poem to Bill, i just wish it could make some money to help fight this awful thing. wink

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.

Phill Williams's Website

  • From: The Land Of Song
  • Registered: 2007-12-10
  • Posts: 5,649

Re: Old Age

thanks to everyone else for your kind comments. i had no plans to make it into a song, but if anyone wants to take it on please do.

phill

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.

Phill Williams's Website

  • From: Nova Scotia, Canada
  • Registered: 2013-01-20
  • Posts: 4,083

Re: Old Age

Great words and construction, Phill ... thanks.

Sometimes a poem just needs to stay a poem. I've never been any good at writing a song to go with words, and find that there's too much tweaking of the words to fit the music. That can sometimes interfere with what the poem was trying to say, and yours stands on it's own very well.

  • From: Tooele Ut
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 4,049

Re: Old Age

I never put this out there, except to Bill. My wife died in January, on my birthday as a matter of fact from Alzheimer's. I sure do miss her.

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.
  • From: Nottingham England
  • Registered: 2014-01-13
  • Posts: 621

Re: Old Age

Bensop. I am so sorry to learn about your loss. I just hope that you have plenty of family and friends to lean on at this difficult time.

Thick as two short planks
  • Grah1
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  • From: Cold and rainy Settle UK
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Re: Old Age

Oh Pete  I'm so  sorry  to  here about  your  loss please accept  my  sincere  condolences in this  sad time .

Grah1's Website

  • dino48
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Re: Old Age

bensonp wrote:

I never put this out there, except to Bill. My wife died in January, on my birthday as a matter of fact from Alzheimer's. I sure do miss her.

Pete I am really sad too hear of this sorry you are going through the pain.

my papy said son your going too drive me too drinking if you dont stop driving that   Hot  Rod  Lincoln!! Cmdr cody and his lost planet airman
  • From: The Land Of Song
  • Registered: 2007-12-10
  • Posts: 5,649

Re: Old Age

Hi Pete,

So sad to hear of your loss. Sorry if I've come across as flippant at some of the conversation, when I hear of such heartbreaking news I put myself in that position and just dread the the thought that some day I may be in that place.
Condolences

Phill

Ask not what Chordie can do for you, but what you can do for Chordie.

Phill Williams's Website

  • From: Tooele Ut
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 4,049

Re: Old Age

Thanks guys. Yes it's been a tough road. I am getting a little better as time goes on. It still hurts though. Phill, flippant is good.

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.
  • From: Nova Scotia, Canada
  • Registered: 2013-01-20
  • Posts: 4,083

Re: Old Age

So very sad for your loss, Pete ... thanks for sharing this extremely personal heartache with us.

  • From: Scott County, Virginia, U.S.A.
  • Registered: 2008-03-19
  • Posts: 794

Re: Old Age

So sorry Pete. I lost my mom to alzheimers. I worked at the nursing home she was in for the last year of her life and was fortunate enough to be able to be of some help to other sons, daughters, wives and husbands during a hard time in their lives.

Live in the "now" - a contentment of the moment - the past is gone - the future doesn't exist - all we ever really have is now and it's always "now".
  • From: Tooele Ut
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 4,049

Re: Old Age

I had to finally put my wife in assisted living last October. I couldn't do it anymore. I had no spare time. She was there 3 months.

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.