Take Me Back To The Simpler Days

[Intro] Reel turning, soft tape hiss The needle falls—and there I am again [Verse 1] I was barely tall enough to reach the player When Daddy lowered those old headphones down Big black cups made for somebody much older With a broken wire taped round and round They kept slipping from my little ears So I held them tight with both my hands Then Dolly’s Coat of Many Colors Carried me to a far-off land [Chorus] Take me back to those simpler days To the hiss of the tape and the records we played When my small hands held those headphones tight And a country song could make everything right Before growing up, before life changed Let the needle fall, let the old reel play And take me back to those simpler days [Verse 2] Johnny’s Ring of Fire kept burning Marty rode through El Paso beneath a blood-red dawn Loretta was a Coal Miner’s Daughter And Tanya woke the house with Delta Dawn Sonny Terry’s harmonica was crying Brownie McGhee taught me how the blues could feel And the Grand Ole Opry sounded like heaven Turning softly on that old tape reel [Verse 3] My mum filled the kitchen up with Motown Dancing while the rhythm crossed the floor My friends were chasing all the latest chart songs But I wanted Daddy’s records more I loved the weight and feel of every album Worn-out pictures, names upon the sleeve Then the needle dropped into the silence And made a whole new world for me [Final Chorus] Take me back to those simpler days To Daddy’s chair and the music he played To Mum in the kitchen, dancing in time And two little hands holding yesterday tight Let Dolly sing, let that harmonica ache Let Johnny walk and the old reels play Just close my eyes, and I’m eight years old Take me back to those simpler days [Outro] The needle lifts, the reel slows down But that little girl is still around