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This Solemn Day Lyrics
Touch me while we both have hands
We won't keep them very long
Watch the window curtain blowing in the breeze
Keep your blessed memories
It's not what we talk about
When the table gossip turns
Someday you might find a circle of my friends
And they'll cry when you walk in
The grass is high on grandpa's farm
But he's not there to cut it down
Grey cat walking through the yard
Stops short and turns around as if he heard a sound
And we'll forget this solemn day
We'll be always young again
But I'll remember him, the one who's left us now
And hold you close as you'll allow
We won't keep them very long
Watch the window curtain blowing in the breeze
Keep your blessed memories
When the table gossip turns
Someday you might find a circle of my friends
And they'll cry when you walk in
But he's not there to cut it down
Grey cat walking through the yard
Stops short and turns around as if he heard a sound
We'll be always young again
But I'll remember him, the one who's left us now
And hold you close as you'll allow
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these are not the correct lyrics, these are lyrics from A Book Unfinished. Here's the correct lyrics:
touch me while we both have hands we won't keep them very long watch the window curtain blowing in the breeze keep your blessed memories
it's not what we talk about when the table gossip turns someday you might find a circle of my friends and they'll cry when you walk in
the grass is high on grandpa's farm but he's not there to cut it down grey cat walking through the yard stops short and turns around as if he heard a sound
and we'll forget this solemn day we'll be always young again but i'll remember him, the one who's left us now and hold you close as you'll allow
this is an amazing song, by the way. my new favorite in fact. i wish Sam's older home recordings were easier to find though.
I like how the perspective in the song changes from beginning to end...at least, that's the way I see it. The first is from an old man's point of view, talking to his wife/family. The second is a little blurry, but maybe it's the grandpa's final thoughts, like an echo right after his death. the third is a third-party narration of his estate and the lonely house he left behind. The last is his surviving family, children or grandchildren perhaps, recovering in the wake of his death. this song wins.
I respectfully disagree. I think the whole song is from the perspective of the grandson.
I respectfully disagree. I think the whole song is from the perspective of the grandson.
In the first stanza, the death of his grandfather has reminded him of his own mortality. He is telling his wife they should appreciate the time they have together because it can slip away like the breeze through the window.
In the first stanza, the death of his grandfather has reminded him of his own mortality. He is telling his wife they should appreciate the time they have together because it can slip away like the breeze through the window.
I think the second stanza is about bottling up your feelings, or perhaps not wearing your heart on your sleeve. You don't go looking for sympathy. I think it's sort of a traditional male pride thing. I think the second half of the stanza is...
I think the second stanza is about bottling up your feelings, or perhaps not wearing your heart on your sleeve. You don't go looking for sympathy. I think it's sort of a traditional male pride thing. I think the second half of the stanza is looking to the future, after the grandson is dead. Perhaps at the funeral his friends get emotional when his widow walks in. I don't know, this part has always sort of confused me.
The third stanza is my favorite collection of words in the entire English language, except for when my daughters say "I love you, daddy". My grandfather was a South Carolina farmer. He has been dead for over twenty years and his farm has since fallen into disrepair. This stanza fills me with a sweet, beautiful sorrow I can't begin to describe.
Anyway, the third stanza is about the slow healing of grief. Eventually they will forget the sorrow. They will go back to feeling like they will always be young, but the grandson promises to remember his grandfather, and his own mortality, and will cherish his relationship with his wife (or lover, or whatever).
That's how I interpret the song. Sam Beam is a master at providing the perfect combination of detail and vagueness so that you can grasp onto something in the song and then fill in the blanks with your own experience to create a more personal interpretation. What does this song mean to you?