Mr.+B's+Song

This is a song I wrote as a eulogy for my father's funeral. After writing it, I discovered that it was a pretty good example of the ballad form. It tells a story, uses a standard rhyme scheme and meter, and contains a refrain.

Song for my Father (1998) By Jim Bulleit

My dad dreamed of being a jazzman, So I slapped the rhythms on my knees, Playing drums in a traveling big band. Closed my eyes as I sang along. It seemed a strange dream for a grown man, I felt just a little bit foolish, But I think now that I understand. But I know I was writing this song.

I never knew what he was thinking; My dad’s died and gone to his maker, He’d go off to his own private place. Maybe paid for mistakes that he made. Then the trumpets would blast from the basement. But the dream that he had survived him; He’d return with a smile on his face. It’s been with me each song I played.

He’d slap the rhythms on his knees, We both slapped the rhythms on our knees, Close his eyes as he sang along. Closed our eyes as we sang along. I once thought he looked a bit foolish, We may have both felt a bit foolish, But I think he was writing this song. But together we were writing this song.

My dad spent his youth in a small town, And maybe it seems a bit foolish, Where the dreams are all bigger than life. But I hope, Dad, you’re hearing this song. But his dream couldn’t stand the oppression Of two wars and the loss of a wife.

So he packed up and moved to the city, And he landed a job as a clerk, Where an adding machine’s tick was his music, And his dreams could be drowned out with work.

Still he slapped the rhythms on his knees, Closed he eyes as he sang along, And maybe he felt a bit foolish, But I think he was writing this song.

He married again for a lifetime; He knew this time that he’d found the one. But the old dream was never extinguished; You see he passed it on down to his son.

He had a hard time with the drinking When the pressures grew too great to bear. There were times when I felt myself shrinking, And I wished that I just wasn’t there.