OLD MAN, THE
(Phil Coulter)


Phil Coulter & His Orch. - 1981
The Fureys & Davy Arthur - 1982
John McDermott - 1994
Celtic Thunder - 2008


The tears have all been shed now
We've said our last good-byes
His soul's been blessed
He's laid to rest
And it's now I feel alone

He was more than just a father
A teacher, my best friend
He can still be heard
In the tunes we shared
When we play them on our own

I never will forget him
For he made me what I am
Though he may be gone
Memories linger on
And I miss him, the old man

As a boy, he'd take me walking
By mountain field and stream
And he showed me things
Not known to kings
And secret between him and me

Like the colors of the pheasant
As he rises in the dawn
And how to fish and make a wish
Beside the holly tree

I never will forget him
For he made me what I am
Though he may be gone
Memories linger on
And I miss him, the old man

I thought he'd live forever
He seemed so big and strong
But the minutes fly
And the years roll by
For a father and a son

And suddenly, when it happened
There was so much left unsaid
No second chance
To tell him thanks
For everything he's done

I never will forget him
For he made me what I am
Though he may be gone
Memories linger on
And I miss him, the old man



(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - January 2016)