Lyrics

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This Old Guitar

I was 2 years old
Strummin’ on my daddy’s new guitar
Sitting on his knee real proud
It’s the first thing I recall
We had no running water
So my daddy dug a well
If I could I’d change it now, I would
But it’s probly just as well

Chorus
When my daddy left me
This old guitar
He gave me a reason
To walk this world
To have a heart

I was 2 years old
Saw my mama in the door
She was cryin’ for my daddy
Cause where he lay he’d move no more
It was a black sky Sunday evening
They dug him up just to lay him down
And I was in the kitchen, just listenin’
And I didn’t make a sound

Chorus
When my daddy left me
This old guitar
He gave me a reason
To walk this world
To have a heart

My mama worked down at the old folks home
She saved her nickels and her dimes
And my mama gave my daddy this guitar
Now it’s mine, yeah now it’s mine

Now I’m 32 years old and I remember
Buying my first fender guitar
And I’ve got six strings in the closet
But only one with which I’d never part

Chorus
When my daddy left me
This old guitar
He gave me a reason
To walk this world
To have a heart

Once I had written Heavy Load and Water in the Sky, songs began to come out like a flood and this is one I have wanted to write for years. It is all true. My dad died when I was two, digging a well by hand and it caved in on him. I remember the day and I still have the guitar. It is a Gibson Hummingbird and all these songs were recorded with it and the dobro. It is the only time I have ever cried while writing a song.