[Verse 1] He taught me how to hold a hammer, how to drive a nail in straight, how to leave a gate behind me just the way I found the gate. He could tell when rain was coming by the color of the sky, never said that much about it, just said, “Bring the washing inside.” [Verse 2] He showed me how to change a tire on the shoulder of the road, how to lift with both your legs when you’re carrying a heavy load. How to sharpen up a pocketknife, how to split a piece of wood, and if a neighbor came to ask you, you helped him if you could. [Refrain] He never called it teaching, he just showed me what to do. I thought we were just working, I was learning how to live from you. [Verse 3] He never talked about forgiveness, never made a grand display, but I watched him shake the hand of a man who’d done him wrong one day. Never said that fear was weakness, never said a man shouldn’t cry, just stood beside me at the funeral and let the silence take its time. [Instrumental] [acoustic guitar continues alone] [dobro answers softly] [fiddle enters with a slow simple melody] [upright bass joins beneath] [Verse 4] Years went by, I started leaving, thought I knew enough by then, found out life can bend you sideways and then bend you back again. Now I catch myself repeating little things I heard you say, and I see your hands inside my hands every time I work that way. [Refrain] He never called it teaching, he just showed me what to do. I thought we were just working, I was learning how to live from you. [Final Verse] There are things I’ve long forgotten, there are things I always knew, but the older that I’m getting, the more I understand of you. [Final Refrain] He never called it teaching, he just showed me what to do. [brief pause] I thought we were just working... I was learning how to live from you. [Outro] [fiddle alone for one short phrase] [acoustic guitar resolves softly] [natural room decay]
