Tom T Hall - Old Dogs, Children And Watermelon Wine lyrics

rate me

"How old do you think I am?" he said.

I said, "Well, I didn't know."

He said, "I turned sixty-five about eleven months ago.

I was sittin' in Miami, pourin' blended whiskey down;

While this old grey black gentleman was cleanin' up the lounge.

There wasn't anyone around, 'cept this old man and me.

The guy who ran the bar was watching 'Ironsides' on TV.

Uninvited, he sat down and opened up his mind

On 'old dogs and children and watermelon wine'."

"Ever had a drink of watermelon wine?" he asked.

He told me all about it, though I didn't answer back

"Ain't but three things in this world that's worth a solitary dime;

But old dogs and children and watermelon wine."

He said, "Women think about themselves when menfolk ain't around.

And friends are hard to find when they discover that you're down."

He said, "I tried it all when I was young and in my natural prime.

Now it's old dogs and children and watermelon wine.

Old dogs care about you even when you make mistakes.

God bless little children while they're still too young to hate."

When he moved away I found my pen and copied down that line;

'bout 'old dogs and children and watermelon wine.'

[ harmonica ]

I had to catch a plane up to Atlanta that next day.

As I left for my room I saw him pickin' up my change.

That night, I dreamed in peaceful sleep of shady summertime;

of 'old dogs and children and watermelon wine.'

Thanks to Gene Beach for these lyrics