Down Around My Place Lyrics

Lyric discussion by musicalglutten 

Cover art for Down Around My Place lyrics by John Hiatt

I would like to categorize this right, but I'm using a free screen reader, so it doesn't work well with comboboxes. This is actually an enterpretation.

This song is about his perspective as an older man. From his experience, and that of those he is closest to, everything is worn out and broken. People like him lived through some very tough times. They suffered through a disaster, maybe a real flood, maybe not, but not long after, all traces of it were gone, so only people like him could remember what it was like.

Old people could tell the younger ones, but none of them really got it, because they couldn't relate. All reminders and traces of that time are gone. He also suffered through serious economic times. This is what I think he means by saying that creaks and rivers dried up and kingdoms came and crumbled. Families, businesses, groups of people, all were formed and broke down.

These things all happened and made him who he is. They made him appreciate the simple joys of things like having a good sturdy house, a good warm heater, good hot food, a good solid kitchen table, and a nice family to sit at it with you. Like he said, "Some lost all, even blood. They lost family. There was a time when these simple things were taken away, so now, he appreciates them and tries to hold on to his old values.

Nowadays, the kids, the younger people who never went through the trouble he did, don't know how it is not to have these simple things, so they take them for granted. They crowd the table, greedily wanting food, wanting to make sure they don't miss out because someone else got more, leaving them with leftovers, and they, although they have a sturdy table, enough food, a warm home, they aren't happy, because there isn't enough money for cable. They just don't get it.

Meanwhile, the old man sees reminders of his old family all around him, and maybe he sees death moving closer. He tries to hold on to the kindhearted, patient, values of his grandfather inspite of the pressures of modern society and poverty, because it is tempting to become cold, hard and greedy. "My grandpa says don't worrie. It's always the last one in who's in a hurry to try and slam the door in the next one's face." I think that's the best description of today's uncaring, greedy, selfish, backstabbing world.

@musicalglutten Got to believe you nailed it. Loved Grandpa's words. "always the lasto ne in who's in a hurry to try and slam the door in the next one's face. My late paw in law grew up dirt poor and he used to tell me how there was always a foot race to the table at supper because if you were a minute late, you went hungry. Very hard times are unknown to the young men and women in our country but I believe there comes a day when the lessons of his song will be visited upon every...