JPF Home Page
Posted By: ckiphen She was all he had - 08/03/18 08:22 PM
She was all he had

Verse
There’s a rusted roof on the old tin shed
where I used to sip on Grandpa’s shine.
The house burned down about three years ago
So there ain’t much left behind.
When grandma died he hit the bottle hard
and stayed stone drunk for days at a time.
I could tell that it pretty much did him in
and it wasn’t long before he died.
Chorus
She was all he had and it broke him
He was never the same again.
He’d disappear into the old tin shed
And drink till the sunlight dimmed.
The day that grandma died
It pretty much did him in.
She was all he had and it broke him
He was never the same again.
Verse
I remember him telling his stories
about when he was a boy like me.
Every story had a lesson to teach
And is part of who I grew to be.
He was a friend as much as a teacher
and helped keep me from losing my way.
I remember that I cried all day long
on the day that he went to his grave.
Chorus
She was all he had and it broke him
He was never the same again.
He’d disappear into the old tin shed
And drink till the sunlight dimmed.
The day that grandma died
It pretty much did him in.
She was all he had and it broke him
He was never the same again.
Verse
In the corner there’s an old coffee can
with a broken pocket watch inside.
Both of its hands stopped at ten O’clock
So I know the moment that he died.
It was there with the pistol beside him
Lying on the floor of this old shed;
where I found him after I heard the bang
with a wound to the side of his head.
Bridge
It taught we what it meant to love someone
and I wanted you to understand
that loving a woman with all of your heart
can be the death a man.
Chorus
She was all he had and it broke him
He was never the same again.
He’d disappear into the old tin shed
And drink till the sunlight dimmed.
The day that grandma died
It pretty much did him in.
She was all he had and it broke him
He was never the same again.
Posted By: beechnut79 Re: She was all he had - 08/14/18 02:22 PM
This is quite a heartbreaker piece. Reminds me a bit of the George Jones classic "He Stopped Loving Her Today".
Posted By: John Paragreen Re: She was all he had - 10/10/18 10:54 PM
Hi, nice work,just as a suggestion I think changing the chorus to end on the title would possibly make it stronger,
quote
She was all he had and it broke him
He was never the same again.
He’d disappear into the old tin shed
And drink till the sunlight dimmed.
The day that grandma died
It pretty much did him in.
She was all he had and it broke him
He was never the same again.

just as a suggestion, something like

He was never the same
It pretty much did him in
He'd disappear into his old tin shed
And drink till sunlight dimmed,
The day grandma died
?????????????????? like, his world fell apart,
Losing grandma broke him
She was all he had.

you could add a lot more colour but I think the last two lines are very repeatable for a song.
all the best.john.
© Just Plain Folks Music Organization Message Boards