Intro: Am G D 

Am         G    D 
  You were seventeen the year your father died 

Am           G     D 
  And he was fifty-three when you were seventeen 

Am       G      D 
  In the museum where you laid your head to sleep 

Am        G                  D 
  The artifacts were cold to comfort you 


Am        G                  D 
When you heard them fighting you hid in the apple tree 

Am        G                  D 
The branches broke their noise 

Am        G                  D 
And when your brother studied at the university 

Am        G                  D 
You were left alone to realize 


Dm 
That while you were growing older 

Em 
He was busy growing older  

Am           G                   D 
too, bah dah dum, da dah dah dah dum 

Am           G                   D 
too, bah dah dum, da dah dah dah dum 


Am        G                  D 
In the summer when your father drove you to the river 

Am        G                  D 
And he would sing so loud 

Am        G                  D 
Soon to be kept silent when you climbed through barbed-wired fences 

Am        G                  D 
To get to the riverside 


Dm 
And while you were growing older 

Em 
He was busy growing older  

Am           G                   D 
too, bah dah dum, da dah dah dah dum 

Am           G                   D 
too, bah dah dum, da dah dah dah dum 


Am        G                  D 
And in February you were running late one day 

Am        G                  D 
And out the door you ran 

Am        G                  D 
Leaving left unsaid the things you?d soon regret not telling 

Am        G                  D 
Never knowing this would be your last chance 


Dm 
And while you were growing older 

Em 
He was busy growing older  



Am            Dm      G  Dm        G 
   And was it fair to    blame the gi-   

Am             Dm      G  Dm       G 
rl, And was it fair to    make the child 

Am                   Dm         G      Dm   G 
choose, And when you stood next to the moun-ta- 

Am           Dm                   G        Dm      G 
in,  Did you swear that you could hear him calling you? 

Am            G                   D 
      bah dah dum, da dah dah dah dum 

Am            G                   D 
      bah dah dum, da dah dah dah dum 


Am        G                  D 
I am twenty-two and you are fifty-three 

Am        G                  D 
And only blood can tell 

Am        G                  D 
That we are made up of strings and strands of DNA 

Am        G                  D 
Dancing waltzes in our cells 


Dm 
and while you are growing older 

Em 
i am busy growing older  

Am           G                   D 
too, bah dah dum, da dah dah dah dum 

Am           G                   D 
too, bah dah dum, da dah dah dah dum