Letter to My Kids

I was out tryna forget about Anita
when into the bar walked a señorita
with a couple of friends
I swore I’d never seen her
but she called my name

she was twenty-one in her third year of college
which didn’t cost a dime
’cause she was on scholarship
to save even more money on rent
she was livin’ at home

I didn’t know that she had a curfew
so we didn’t go back to Albuquerque
instead I took her home
to my place up in Santa Fe

the stereo was up so loud
we didn’t hear her phone
we were in the dark—yeah we didn’t know
her gun-totin’ daddy was on his way

he turned his lights off down the block
and cut his engine one house away
yeah I was in for quite the shock
when I heard him say

open up this door right now
or I’ll use the key on my hip
yeah I’m packin’ heat
you don’t want that piece of me

I said I didn’t know that she had a curfew
or I woulda drove her back to Albuquerque
after the show
and asked when I could see her again

yeah your daughter is
someone I would like to get to better know
maybe right now ain’t the best time though
I should prob’ly check with her
and see ’bout when

***guitar solo***

that was how I met your mother
and your teddy bear granddad
I know you think my rules are strict
but you don’t have it half as bad

as your mama did
bein’ a young adult treated like a kid
she knew her daddy loved her
but they didn’t fit: his intentions
with the crazy things that he did

all that to say, no parent is perfect
no how no way
just know that I’d doin’ my best each day
even on the days when I step in it

(C) Benjamin Dudley and Robert Grant


Thanksgiving Song

verse 1:
Penny is spending Thanksgiving alone
her son’s in Missouri, her husband’s passed on
you see she and her neighbors all keep to themselves
some call it privacy I call it hell

chorus 1:
she lived the American Dream
for a long time, that’s what it seemed
but a dream you can’t wake from ain’t no dream at all
in her kitchen she stares at the phone on the wall

verse 2:
a mile and a half from Penny’s warm home
Nathan is pushin’ all that he owns
in his mind he replays his past like a film
whose second act always gives him the chills

chorus 2:
he’s on his way to a meal
he only gets if he makes a deal
so he’ll sit through the preachin’ and receive the prayer
and envy the clothes on this year’s volunteers

bridge:
from the Mayflower to Origin Blue
no one is content at home
it could be that happiness is too much to ask for
I’d settle for a little Shalom

***guitar solo***

verse 3:
so go ’round the table and share your thankfuls
be grateful for them ’fore they’re gone
be kind to your brother and love on your mother
this is my Thanksgiving song

(C) Robert Grant and Clay Norris