The story behind this song
His garden gloves are still by the door, and the roses don't know yet what they're waiting for. The peppermints rattle in the tin — you take one out, then put it back again. The porch swing moves slow, like it's still saying don't go. Mom says it's okay to cry, that even grown-ups don't know why.
There's no rehearsal for the first time death wears someone you love. For the child meeting that goodbye for the first time, learning where the stories go when the swing stops swaying — honest that they're gone, gentle that the love isn't.
Lyrics
The porch swing's moving slow
Like it's still saying don't go
Like it's still saying don't go
Grandpa, your garden gloves are by the door
The roses don't know yet what they're waiting for
Your peppermints still rattle in the tin
I take one out, and put it back again
Mom says it's okay to cry
Even grown-ups don't know why
The roses don't know yet what they're waiting for
Your peppermints still rattle in the tin
I take one out, and put it back again
Mom says it's okay to cry
Even grown-ups don't know why
This is my first goodbye
And it's the biggest one
And it's the biggest one
Grandpa, where did all the stories go
The ones you kept inside your coat
Mom says love's the kind of thing that stays
Even when the swing stops swaying
So I'll sit here in your place
And learn my first goodbye
The ones you kept inside your coat
Mom says love's the kind of thing that stays
Even when the swing stops swaying
So I'll sit here in your place
And learn my first goodbye
You whistled low when you were thinking hard
Two notes, like a bird out in the yard
Your hands smelled like the cedar that you sanded down
You let me wear your hat — it slid right past my crown
The funeral suits were dark and tall
I held your picture through it all
Two notes, like a bird out in the yard
Your hands smelled like the cedar that you sanded down
You let me wear your hat — it slid right past my crown
The funeral suits were dark and tall
I held your picture through it all
This is my first goodbye
And it's the heaviest one
And it's the heaviest one
Grandpa, where did all the stories go
The ones you kept inside your coat
Mom says love's the kind of thing that stays
Even when the swing stops swaying
So I'll sit here in your place
And learn my first goodbye
The ones you kept inside your coat
Mom says love's the kind of thing that stays
Even when the swing stops swaying
So I'll sit here in your place
And learn my first goodbye
Someday I'll be tall, with a coat of my own
Pockets full of peppermints and stories
And some small someone on my knee
And I'll whistle low — two notes
And you'll be there with me
Pockets full of peppermints and stories
And some small someone on my knee
And I'll whistle low — two notes
And you'll be there with me
Grandpa, now I know where the stories go
They climb inside the ones you loved
Mom was right — it's the kind of thing that stays
Even when the swing stops swaying
I'm sitting in your place
I've learned my first goodbye
They climb inside the ones you loved
Mom was right — it's the kind of thing that stays
Even when the swing stops swaying
I'm sitting in your place
I've learned my first goodbye
The roses bloomed today
I think that's you, finding a way
I think that's you, finding a way
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