Backstory
I wrote this song when I was eighteen or nineteen years old and my grandfather was suffering from severe dementia. I had never been close to him, but felt a sense of loss at not really knowing him. Shortly after I wrote this song, he and my grandmother came to live with my parents for the last couple of years of their life, and I got to spend a lot of time with them. They both died at the age of 93 after 62 years of marriage, but over those last couple of years, my grandfather only called me by my name one time, and I’m not really sure he knew who I was even then.
Lyrics
Late last night I had a dream my mother’s father died
I had not seen his face in several years
I had only lived twelve turns when we said our last goodbyes
but in my heart I’d always held him dear
[Chorus]
But the world is spinning faster every day
and every time I blink my eyes I lose my way
and the blurring of my vision
is from the water in my eyes
the winds of time blow in my face
so hard that I must cry
to keep them clear
I awoke to find my mother sitting by my bed
singing me a soft sweet lullaby
She saw the water in my eyes and she stroked my weary head
she said I had no reason for to cry
but the sands of time slip through my hands like water down the drain
I cannot hold them, something must be wrong
she’s sang that tune so many times and I know its sweek refain
but I cannot find the words to fit her song
She says…
[Chorus]
She says I have my grandfathers eyes
and within me she can see his point of view
But I know when my grandfather dies, I won’t weep
I know that it’s his path that I must choose
[Chorus]
He could not cry
Dan Haug 