The story behind this song
The fish was twelve inches in 1990; it's a marlin now. The army prank gains a man every telling, and the grandkids sit cross-legged keeping score of what's true while cedar shavings pile at his boots.
What he never tells: the years he worked so they'd have stories at all. For the grandpa at seventy whose stories the family knows by heart — and requests anyway.
Lyrics
Pull up a chair, everybody —
he's clearing his throat.
he's clearing his throat.
The fish was twelve inches in 'ninety —
it's a marlin by now,
the army prank gets one man bigger
every time you tell it loud.
You taught us all to drive on gravel,
white-knuckled in an empty lot.
it's a marlin by now,
the army prank gets one man bigger
every time you tell it loud.
You taught us all to drive on gravel,
white-knuckled in an empty lot.
Some families have a TV.
We've got you.
We've got you.
Tell it again, Grandpa — the long way this time,
the fish, the storm of 'sixty-nine.
We know every word and we don't care —
the best part's watching you get there.
Seventy years of stories true enough —
tell it again. Don't leave nothing out.
the fish, the storm of 'sixty-nine.
We know every word and we don't care —
the best part's watching you get there.
Seventy years of stories true enough —
tell it again. Don't leave nothing out.
You whittle while you're talking,
cedar shavings at your boots,
the grandkids sit cross-legged, counting
how much of it is true.
Here's the part you never tell:
the years you worked so we'd have stories.
cedar shavings at your boots,
the grandkids sit cross-legged, counting
how much of it is true.
Here's the part you never tell:
the years you worked so we'd have stories.
Some families have a TV.
We've got the real thing.
We've got the real thing.
Tell it again, Grandpa — the long way this time,
the fish, the storm of 'sixty-nine.
We know every word and we don't care —
the best part's watching you get there.
Seventy years of stories true enough —
tell it again. Don't leave nothing out.
the fish, the storm of 'sixty-nine.
We know every word and we don't care —
the best part's watching you get there.
Seventy years of stories true enough —
tell it again. Don't leave nothing out.
One day we'll tell them for you,
and we'll lie just like you taught us —
the fish gains an inch a year.
That's how legends stay fed.
and we'll lie just like you taught us —
the fish gains an inch a year.
That's how legends stay fed.
Tell it again, Grandpa — the long way this time,
the fish, the storm of 'sixty-nine.
We know every word and we don't care —
the best part's watching you get there.
Seventy years of stories true enough —
tell it again. Don't leave nothing out.
the fish, the storm of 'sixty-nine.
We know every word and we don't care —
the best part's watching you get there.
Seventy years of stories true enough —
tell it again. Don't leave nothing out.
Pull up a chair, everybody.
He's just getting started.
He's just getting started.
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