Steve Goodman

I miss my old man tonite,
and I wish he was here with me.
With his corny jokes and his cheap cigars,
He could look you in the eye and sell you a car.
That's not an easy thing to do,
but no one ever knew a more charming creature
on this earth than my old man.

He was a pilot in the big war
in the U.S. Army Air Corps
in a C-47 with a heavy load
full of combat cargo for the Burma Road.
And after they dropped the bomb
he came home and married Mom,
and not long after that
he was my old man.

And oh the fights we had
when my brother and I got him mad;
He'd get all boiled up and he'd start to shout
and I knew what was coming so I tuned him out.
And now the old man's gone, and I'd give all I own
to hear what he said when I wasn't listening
to my old man'

I miss my old man tonite
and I can almost see his face
He was always trying to watch his weight
and his heart only made it to fifty-eight.
For the first time since he died
late last night I cried.
I wondered when I was gonna do that
for my old man.