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