April 2005                                                                 The Megaphone                                                                           Page 5

Country Music and Daddy

by Mary (Gordon) Gainer

Country Music is the music that Daddy taught to me

He taught me how to sing with him

When I was only three

The songs we sang are the songs we learned

While listening to the radio

In Memphis, Tennessee, so many years ago

Daddy played a guitar and a fiddle

A black man taught him how to play

That blues sound put to country, echoes in the Delta yet today

It's a way of life for country folks,

Our culture, some would say

But we know it tells the story of life,

In an entertaining kind of way

Daddy could play a country song and no one had to guess

What song he was playing, because my Daddy was the best

He played a fiddle in a country band

In Clarksdale, Mississippi, my hometown

I watched the grown folks dance and learned to jitterbug

The kids today call "gettin' down"

We hope our kids learn to play and sing along

When the Family Band plays his songs

So Daddy's music will forever live

When all of us are gone

The kids see love among us today, when everybody shares

In the fun that we have playing with

Johnny and The Gordonheirs 

Author -- Mary (Gordon) Gainer

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Arthur and The Golden Years

by Mary (Gordon) Gainer

Ole Arthur came to visit on the day I planned to shop

I swallowed Ibuprofen but the pain just would not stop

I thought, "I will not let this keep me home"

And headed out the door

Out in the cold, damp, misty air

Arthritis-only hurt more

I drove the hour that it took to get down to the Mall

My knee joints hurt, my lower back ached

Dear God, don't let me fall

The cold wind blew my scarf away

I tried to get it back

Arthritis is the culprit that stopped me in my tracks

All my life I watched older friends, as they packed and headed south

They said "these are the Golden Years" and pressed upon the gas

Now that I've reached the Golden Years

The Golden Years at last

My Friend, I think the Golden Years

Have just turned into Brass

Author -- Mary (Gordon) Gainer

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