Story Behind The Song
Gazing out a tour bus window in the Plains of America, I wondered of and about the existence of the hypothetical life-long bachelor and the questions and frustrations he may be confronting in the autumn of his time.
Song Description
As a solitary elderly man "somewhere in Wyoming" ponders his future and questions his past, he prepares for the funeral of his last friend on earth, wondering why he doesn't feel closer to any unearthly diety.
Song Length |
3:47 |
Genre |
Pop - Classic, Unique - General |
Tempo |
Medium Slow (91 - 110) |
Lead Vocal |
Male Vocal |
Mood |
Poignant, Moving |
Subject |
Loneliness, Prairie, Plains |
Similar Artists |
Randy Newman, Ray Charles |
Language |
English |
Era |
1990 - 1999 |
| |
Lyrics
LAND THAT TIME FORGOT
(J. Carroll)
I'm an old man eating dinner
Somewhere in Wyoming
Got my false teeth working
On a microwave medallion
Got the headlines lying
Right here beside my coffee
Got the storm clouds are gathering
All around my chimney
I'm pushing back my chair
I'm lingering at the stair
And I'll sleep on the sofa more than not
In the land that time forgot
In the morning I'm going driving
Down to St. Francis Chapel
Gonna make it to the funeral
Of my not-so-old friend Hansel
I'm gonna gaze upon him lying
While I kneel beside that coffin
While the relatives are gathering
I'm gonna pray, "Please, Lord, forgive me
There ain't no one left down here
Why don't I feel you near?"
Later on alone at home I'll have a shot
In the land that time forgot
Well, I never wanted children
And I never took a wife
I ask myself, "What are you doing
The rest of your life?"
Whatever is honing down my bones
Now cuts me like a knife
I'm an old man in the morning
That rooster keeps on crowing
I'm fumbling into my dungarees
Those weeds gonna keep on growing
I'm gonna make it to that mailbox
Gonna check to find there's nothing
But a pamphlet advertising
A pizza shop something
I feel a drop of rain
Drumming in my brain
And I'm wondering when's it ever gonna stop
© Ordinary World Publishing, ASCAP
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