Don't Forget To Live

[Marblehead]

I found this resting on a computer disk and I thought I would put it to work.

 

 

Lessons In Stone

by Tom T. Hall

performed by Longview

 

I stood in a quiet old graveyard

Where lifetimes are carved into stone

Telling the times of the birthdays

And when we are called to go home

I read of the birth of a banker

Who died later on the same day

And a stockbroker born at a quarter to three

At seven o'clock passed away

 

I followed the sound of a hammer

To a moss covered workshop out back

I said to an aging stone mason

Sir, I have a question to ask

The lifetimes of all those who sleep here

You say were a few hours long

Could it be that you were mistaken

Or am I just reading it wrong

 

Chorus:

A quiet old graveyard where I walked alone

With lessons carved into stone

 

He beckoned me into a chapel

His creaking old bones led the way

He sat down and gazed in the distance

As he searched for the words he would say

He said when these people were children

They hurried to climb down and play

The years passed them by in an instant

They worked all their good years away

 

Unnoticed the years crept on by them

As they searched for fortune and fame

The only time they could be happy

Was when they were making a gain

So we counted their lives as they lived them

We took out the trouble and strife

We counted the times they were happy

And that's all they got out of life

 

Repeat Chorus

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Nice, Marblehead, nice.

[zerostao]

MH thanks for posting tom t. i currently live in the little town he was from. so often it seems we dont appreciate what we have close by. i used to live by one of his songs(faster horses) he is a true genuine and honest storyteller.

we are lucky he did not take clayton delaney's advice.

[Marblehead]

MH thanks for posting tom t. i currently live in the little town he was from. so often it seems we dont appreciate what we have close by. i used to live by one of his songs(faster horses) he is a true genuine and honest storyteller.

we are lucky he did not take clayton delaney's advice.

 

Yes, Tom T. is (I think he is still alive) a great storyteller. For some reasome I never got into his music in that I have nothing he recorded, but I always knew his name and of some of his work.

 

Longview was a Bluegrass band, members of different bands who got together during the winter when there were no festivals going on, and I think they did a really respectful job with the song.

 

Don't know about the advise but I am sure you are right.

[cicida]

Marblehead,

 

Thanks for sharing. I find it so sentimental especially this line : "A quiet old graveyard where I walked alone. With lessons carved into stone". Life is always changing, from birth to death. Sometimes, when there are so many things we should say it to this person, but we keep it inside our heart saving for another opportunity and another time. When this person is unexpectably gone one day, our heartfelt words can only be shared it on their grave. I feel this is rather depressing...

 

cicida

[zerostao]

Yes, Tom T. is (I think he is still alive) a great storyteller. For some reasome I never got into his music in that I have nothing he recorded, but I always knew his name and of some of his work.

 

Longview was a Bluegrass band, members of different bands who got together during the winter when there were no festivals going on, and I think they did a really respectful job with the song.

 

Don't know about the advise but I am sure you are right.

i never have had the pleasure of seeing longview together as a unit. but i have seen all the players .

longview does play frequently as a unit. imo they are a collection of hall of famers.

claton delaney(not his real name) was a drinking/smoking buddy of tom t's. he was also the best "picker" around. his advice to young tom t. was to stay away from guitars and music because "there ain't no money in it". clayton passed away at the ripe ol' age of 19 0r 21 something like that. when tom t. was 7!!

life was a little diferent back then.

Edited February 20, 2011 by zerostao

[zerostao]

[quote name='zerostao' date='20 February 2011 - 07:00 AM' timestamp='1298214026' post='244228

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Edited February 20, 2011 by zerostao

[Marblehead]

Okay. Now I am back with you. Yes, it really wasn't until the 1950s that a country singer could make any money writing, singing or playing. And I understand about alcoholism in the music field. My dad was a good musician, played banjo, was in a band when he was young but he became an alcoholic, got drunk too many times and the band fired him. He eventually drank himself to death.

 

I saw Longview a couple times down here in Florida and once up in Georgia when they were touring. James King and Dudley Connell do an excellent job harmonizing vocals. They both play guitar and they mess with each other and switch between playing melody and rhythm. James used to be a heavy drinker. Don't know if he still is or if he is on the wagon.

 

And so, back to the theme of the thread, don't forget to live and as a general rule you will live longer if you don't get hung up on any drugs.

[Ninpo-me-this-ninjutsu-me-that]

Wow... I loved that Marblehead. Thanks for posting it.

[Marblehead]

Sometimes, when there are so many things we should say it to this person, but we keep it inside our heart saving for another opportunity and another time. When this person is unexpectably gone one day, our heartfelt words can only be shared it on their grave. I feel this is rather depressing...

 

cicida

 

Yes. It took me a very long time to learn how to say "I love you." Sad, isn't it?

[Marblehead]

Wow... I loved that Marblehead. Thanks for posting it.

 

You're welcome.

[DalTheJigsaw123]

Thank you very much!