Grandpa John Lyrics

Grandpa John and his brothers, like so many others

Put up their money and bought some farming land

Was the old Pearce homestead, that's what the lawyer said

As he read the deed out loud for Uncle Dan

The year was nineteen and twelve, Grandpa John was twenty-three

With a third grade education, full of passion, hopes and dreams

And he loved to watch things grow watch those fields turning green

So he went to work turning dirt to tobacco corn and beans

And the seasons came and went, and the crops grew round and round

Every dollar earned he spent to put the next crop in the ground

Keep both hands on the plow Grandpa and one eye on the sky

You'll be a family man by and by

Grandpa John he started late, but he finally found his mate

His schoolteacher bride was twenty five

Year was nineteen and twenty-eight, Grandpa John he was thirty-nine

Got busy building on that family line

Grandma Josie and Grandpa John had three fine daughters… and a son

Days were long and times were hard it's true

There were beans to pick and barns to build, and rows to hoe, crops to till

The Depression rolled on by, they hardly knew

And the seasons came and went, crops grew round and round

Every dollar earned they spent to put the next year in the ground

Keep both hands on the plow Grandpa and one eye on the sky

Those mules will turn to tractors by and by

In nineteen and sixty, Grandpa John turned seventy-one

My Mom and Dad gave him his very first grandson

I thought he walked on water, I guess he did spoil me

I hung on every word I heard sitting at that old man's knee

He'd say look over there the sky is changing, smell the air it's gonna rain soon

Don't forget to wash behind those ears

Be still now son we'll catch a fish, it's a shooting star quick make a wish

When Grandma died was the only time I ever saw his tears

And the seasons came and went, and the crops grew round and round

Most of Grandpa's time was spent watching others work that ground

Still keep both hands on the plow Grandpa and one eye on the sky

Times will get better by and by

In nineteen and seventy-two, Grandpa died age eighty-three

This little kid didn't know what to do so I just climbed an old oak tree

In the highest branches as I listened to the breeze

Swear I heard my Grandpa's voice calling out to me

Now many years have come and gone, my children they're all grown and gone

Some of them have children of their own

I still love that patch of land, and I wish that I was half that man

Wish my grandkids could hear my Grandpa say

Let those seasons come and go, this old world spin round and round

There's more to life than money son, don't let it drag you down

Keep both hands on the plow my child, and your heart turned to the sky

We'll all be together by and by

Just keep both hands on the plow my friends and your heart turned to the sky

We'll all be together by and by