Story Behind The Song

A reflection of my personal priorities in life and how they have changed.

Song Description

The song is about values. It deals with a time when people watched out for each other. Then some where along the way we became more self centered and material things became more important than people...until the attack on the World Trade Center caused us to focus on more traditional values.

Lyrics

Old Time Things by Jim Miller Copyright 2005
intro
F G Am....Aus2..Am
verse
C F
I was driving around one night, under a moon so big and bright
G Am..Aus2..Am
That I could see every leaf upon the trees
C F
My face turned to a smile, remembering as a child
G Am..Asus2...Am
The parties that we had for Halloween

G Am G Am
Crisp October nights, the cider warmed me up inside
F G Am....Asus2..Am
Bobbin for apples, and playing other games.
F G Am
Holding each other tight, on a hay ride through the night.
F G Am....Aus2..Am
Warms my heart remembering Old Time Things.

Chorus
Dm Am G Am
We took care of each other, and we?d help our neighbor out
G Am
And on Sundays we?d all go hear the choir sing
Dm Am G Am
We did it because we liked the way it made us feel inside
F G Am..Asus2...Am
It felt good just to do those Old Time Things
F G Am..Asus2...Am
verse
C F
The only gang I know, that wore the same colored cloths
G Am
Was the High school team when playing in a game
C F
Bought our drugs at stores, was no need to lock your doors
G Am..Asus2..Am
Treat your family and your neighbors all the same.

G Am G Am
Weren?t no guns in school, folks lived within the rules

F G Am
Our parents all belonged to the P.T.A.
F G Am
Only person thrownin? signs was a ref?s call of off sides
F G Am..Aus2..Am
Friday night, at a high school football game


Chorus
Dm Am G Am
We took care of each other, and we?d help our neighbor out
G Am..Asu2..Am
And on Sundays we?d all go hear the choir sing
Dm Am G Am
We did it because we liked, the way it made us feel inside
F G Am..Asus2..Am
It felt good just to do those Old Time Things
F G Am..Asus2..Am
verse
C F
When I came back from the war, things weren?t that way no more
G Am..Asus2..Am
I found the world a very different place
C F
Folks liven side by side, in their houses seemed to hide
G Am..Aus2...Am C
And they rarely looked into each other?s face

Bridge
C E
Don?t know why people stopped working together
F C
Friendships didn?t mean as much as ?stuff?
C E
Like houses, cars, boats, clothes and money
Dm E Am
Seemed that no one could ever get enough

verse
Am G Am
Was a scene right out of hell, the day the towers fell
F G Am
And it tugged at the hardest of heart strings
F G Am
On live TV for hours, boys runnin? into the Towers,
F G Am
Made me cry to see them doing that Old Time Thing.

G Am G Am
Lot?a people gave their lives, while others would survive
F G Am
By working together hand in hand
G Am G Am
That Old Time Thing was alive, just been bottled up inside
F G Am...........Aus2....Am
Of every man and woman, in this land

Chorus
Dm Am G Am
Now we take care of each other, and we help our neighbor out
G Am
And on Sundays we all go hear the choir sing
Dm Am G Am
We do it because we like the way, it makes us feel inside
F G Am
It feels good again to do those Old Time Things
F G Am Aus2 Am