Styx - This Old Man Lyrics

Altra bella ballata soft prog tra le mie preferite del disco

I was in my 40's when my father passed, he had always provided and very well.
Both of us in different factories when he died,
The watching him try to breath, irradiated beyond belief, lung cancer killed along with all living tissue by Oncologists at CentraCare.
Even that left left me cold along with the funeral that followed.
Then a day or so later I thought of this song and looked it up.
Listening, I was slammed.
Triggered and I cried like a baby.
Just bawled for hours.
Still happens, each and every time now ..
Just like everyone else,
Such timeless memories.

As a 58 year old man, I've listened to Styx for almost 50 years and still love their work. Seen them in concert at least 20 times, with the best being in London in 1980 while a cop in the Air Force stationed at RAF Bentwaters. Anyway, the place erupted when they played Suite Madame Blue.

This song is great! I get it stuck in my head all day! :D

I love this band! Songs from the hearth💖💝

LYRICS

This Old Man
He worked for thirty years with
Two strong hands, in the factory light his
Lunch box held all his needs with
Coffee sandwiches and dreams
For Me

This Old Man
He taught me many times
To undertand, that showing love is simply
Nothing you should have o hide
Don't keep your feelings locked inside
He said

When I was young
I dreamed a young man's dreams
I saw in you reyes
The things I'd never seen
But now I grow old
But I don't really mind
Cause can't you see with my family
We'll share these timeless memories

Thanks firvposting the words.

best drum to vocal at the peak of the song!

Again... A masterpiece given to us all.

Amthen dadicated for all father in beetween , and specialist for my father who past away since 13 years ago . Enjoy

beautyful song dedicated to my father my old man

thank you for keeping the memories of my dad alive

I NEED a place to drive to so I can listen to this loud and free.

concert in a boathouse Lake of the Ozarks Mo. with Chilliwack best concert ever , One very large party . Summer 76

FOGHAT will crush your skull

my father died a factory worker. I did not have the balls to do the same. No one writes like this. ONLY STYX!

後半のtommyのcrying guitarは彼の才能を物語りましたね。デビューアルバムから。天才はすでに天才なのです！！

This will always be one of my favorite albums from STYX..Fucking Awesome !!!..so many memories ...

wat een wereld nummer

tommy lee dido

We need to learn from and respect our elders, not throw them out like trash.....

coke copyright infringed on styx lol, 9n7/8s of styx songs rock 40+yrs later

The epitome of classic rock. Headphones please.

My favorite Styx song.Both powerful and haunting.

The drummer drank himself to death. That's pretty sad.

Really?I thought it was a mix of Drugs and gastrointestinal problems

Lime44 yeah he really didn't have any plans beyond styx.when the band split he didn't know what to do with himself

My daddy & I when I was little we used to sit in the living room w the lights off & listen to it on his vinyls!!! May 1 st will be a yr since he passed!! He survived 5 yrs of cancer & then six weeks later died in a motorcycle accident at 60. This song will always to my anthem to him!! This ones for you Papa Bear!!!!❤️

Very touching story...for us old vinyl hounds I hope you kept his albums.

Love you

agreed.

+ Jim Styer  good song choice

Jim Styer

great song !!!

what an accompaniment to ballirina

The way this one segues into Clare De Lune/Ballerina on the album is one helluva suite! Awesome work from a time gone by, whose quality needs to return in a hurry!

I wish this early Styx would get it's due! That intro harmony guitar kills! I just saw Dennis DeYoung the other night, and this music is as alive today as ever...that was a helluva rock show!

I LOVE ALL STYX !!

The way the guys do these fizzing noises at the end reminds me of the Columbia Pictures Television logo music that came out the same year as this song (and LP).

simply beautiful

Great to hear the Hammond B3, Dennis was/is a great Hammond Player i wish he had never touched a Synth( except for in Fooling Yourself)

well...for my part, I agree with you about the B3! But I love Dennis' synth work in Sing For The Day, Castle Walls, and Renegade. My favorite synth players include Rick Wakeman on Yessongs, Geddy Lee on the earliest Rush stuff (through 1983), and Kevin Moore on the first two major label Dream Theater albums (Awake and Images And Words).

Actually, that's Tommy on the Autoharp in Sing For The Day. I'm pretty sure

Beautiful and deep song from a great band...

frank alias danny beacham here I had this album in 1976 CRYSTAL BALL BY STYX TOMMY SHAW HAD JUST JOINED THE BAND AND THIS OLD MAN WAS ON THIS ALBUM TOMMY SHAW SANG LEAD VOCALS FOR SWEET MADAMMOISELLE AND SHOOZ AND DID A FANTASTIC ONGOING DUELING GUITAR SOLO WITH JAMES YOUNG ON THE SONG CLAIR DE LUNE/BALLERINA ON THIS ALBUM I TURNED 16 THAT YEAR

This is from Styx II and not Crystal Ball, I have them all. Actually Dad or Grampa had them, I inherited them, but I grew up listening to them. Tommy Shaw is not playing 12 string either, it was JY or JC. Tommy was recruited after JC left the band, he was still playing bars and bowling alley's at the time and stated so himself. He also admitted to being intimidated by JY's skill on the guitar. He was an amazing addition to the band though, and was exactly what they needed. Styx II, Equinox, Crystal ball and Grand Illusion are their best albums IMHO. They are not the same band now without Dennis's voice, John's passing and Chuck only playing part time. They should have stayed a progressive rock band as well, that's when they were at their very best. Peace

@8moody1 No, this is definitely from Crystal Ball. Father OSA is from Styx II.

You're correct, I was thinking of Father OSA

This song is from the crystal ball album!! Just a great song!!!

No, last half of song was Sweet Madam Blue, gaze in your looking glass, we're not childs anymore... Although we're Zillions in debt, and no one not even I gives a shit....  That's how I interpreted it....  Dennis was writing his way up to fame and stardom obviously was pretty dam good and then wrote in 1976 Sweet Madam Blue for bicentennial...  he made the band, and in the end, they fucked him...  oh well, fingers go up holes in the doctors offices don't they?

I agree with you about Dennis making the band and being screwed by them. The good news is, while Tommy and JY get more bitter and jaded as the years go on, I just saw Dennis DeYoung perform the other night with his band in Oswego, NY and at 69 years old, he rocked the stage! He is still the same corny funloving Dennis as ever, and he plays the songs 100% note-faithful to the original recordings. I was and remain amazed! Seek out his band Dennis DeYoung and The Music of Styx if you can, live. The show blew my mind (I'm a world-weary musician of 25 years and he brought life back to me).

I blew my chance about 3 months ago, Dennis was in Houston or Woodlands/houston, and I passed on the thought of buying 5 tickets at over 120$ each, Should have left kids at home and gone for it, but I don't drive well in Houston.  Oh well, still have my albums!

beautiful song honouring fathers.   hats off.

One of the best

Love this song, but...am I the only one who things that from about 2:47-3:29 sounds like it should be the background music of a Coke commercial?

@David S. Yeah! Manufactured whit heavy machinery. This is why the song is called Welcome to the Machine [oups! That is Pink Floyd].

Shift
OMG I thought the same thing!!

Shift
Ok I won't. I'm in rehab for coca cola habit.

David S.
Oh wow thanks

GREAT SONG AND WONDERFUL LYRICS  TOO....

Nobody and i mean Nobody sounds and plays like STYX. And never will. Case closed.

just like if you were speaking about a cricket or a cats meow a dogs bark

I hope to one day!

tommy lee. Queen does

@Michele G ME TOO!

From what I understood,Styx started falling apart because once-rockers like DDY wanted to go for the awful 70s love ballads and move away from the rock. Songs like Babe, (actually most of Cornerstone), and the push for rock opera themed albums led the band to split. By the time of Kilroy was Here, JY was the only one doing hard rock with DDY wanting stuff like Don't Let it End. Granted musical styles were changing, but Styx just wasn't ready for the new direction.

Well the 2 DDY ballads on Cornerstone are Babe which I really don't mind, and First Time which is PAINFUL to listen to because it just drags on and on. Boat On The River is a nice unplugged song, Lights is always classic, Love In The Midnight is definitely an underrated song on there which is a great Tommy song, JY rocks it out on Eddie, Never Say Never is a decent one thrown in there, and Borrowed Time will always be one of those where you kinda remember it But when you do hear it, it's a lot better than you thought it was. Wow I just did a whole review of the album lol.

LimeSteve What about Why Me?

Styx was and still great..

this album is a masterpiece

You like Triumph but think Rush is crap? No Canadian beer for you eh!

funkster007. Nomeansno from Canada

Class act then, clas act now.

Styx history goes far back in ´68 check it out! Illinois people.

wait, did you just call Rush crap?

Remember a magnificent concert at the Forum in L.A along with Foreigner,back in ´82 great bands!!

Music with meaning and a message!

I am a Styx fan,from way back when.They will always be number one group of all time!
No.1 fan forever!

Tommy Shaw's first Styx album...and one of their best! Why did they have to fall into the trap of dissension?????????

Pieces of Eight was a good hard album, though...

all the great old tunes don't come with video, like this one. Original studio audio. best version on you tube. Thank you Tommy and men!

hard to tell if that is true..Grand Illusion had cheezy songs like "Come Sail Away" but had others that were heavy for back then when you had crap like Foghat and Rush touring over and over and Black Sabbath was the only metal band it was slim pickings right? bands like Triumph, Judas Priest, U.F.O and others were on the scene changing the world forever

Wrong IMHO Grand Illusion was the begining of their commecialization.The hole damn thing kinda hurt us midwest fans.But if you like gay disco influenced chit,thats yours

"just recently i stumble on one of the youtube clip of this band and realized i discovered the magnificent group of people who produced a magnificent masterpieces in music industry" the styx, my children don't even like to hear it anymore because i kept on playing it again and again and loud as i could!

Dennis DeYoung must have really loved and understood his dad as this is the way he seen how his Dad stuggled to make his life a better one than he had. I was at this concert in Spokan washington This song they show a man on a large screen on the walls carrying a lunch kit. This song stood out in my mind the most of all the tunes that they did. Great band with a phenom singer.

@CrystalVision7 especially if you suck at english

A generation later, this song takes on a whole new meaning than what it did 35 years ago. With my dad 3 years gone, it can now make me cry.

It's ... glorious

from 12 to 48 and still one of my favorites!!

luv stxy -saw them in hongcouver a couple years ago

luv styx

@CrystalVision7 god? lol

@JoeyPNB Ou, I like Lady Gaga... just kidding, Styx is a great band!

@Shwaggetyshfifty And my comment is three months old idiot ;-)

@Monhold Obvious troll is obvious

I just don't understand why people get so upset when you so much as whisper God or Jesus. YouTube comments aren't mouthfucking you with religion, are they?

I just dont understand why people always say "jesus this, jesus that" and pushing jesus so much! what about people who do not believe in jesus?? are they bad people then? if you dont believe in jesus?? what a pity world to be!!!

@LynnePritchard If you want to pray to an human invented all mighty god, then do that... I will still laugh at your ignorance, and I hope you won't get too disapointed when you expect a paradise on earth after your death.

@Monhold -I'll be praying for you.

@CrystalVision7 I am so fucking glad that nothing of your Christianity shit is in this beautiful non religious song.
God is a peace of shit and Jesus is only a poor guy who knew to handle with heal plants... Shut the fuck up with that, not everyone believs in that shit - it causes only offensive discussions and war!

Man, this song has always put a major lump in my throat. I love and miss you Dad. You were the best.

How epic were/are these guys? Crystal Ball, Equinox and Grand Illusion are exceptional albums. One of the best three albums in a row any band ever made.

Kevin Daw pieces of eight ain't no slouch either

I agree!

Man... I saw these guys live when I was 18 along with Peter Frampton. BEST friggin concert I've ever been to!

great song, you got Claire de Lune as well? Thanks for posting this. Havent heard this is many years, takes me back to my high school days. I wore this record out, a couple of times.

Without a doubt, Styx is one of the greatest bands of all time. In MY opinion, "Equinox" was the first great album and the begining for them. Such raw talent. Dennis DeYoung, is one of the most under-rated singers of all time. All five made Styx a great band. I first saw them on the "Cornerstone" tour in '79 (An incredible album). Such a shame (as with MOST bands) that DeYoung and the others had to fight. Now with John gone, Styx can never be the same. Styx will rock on forever.

Without a doubt, Styx is one of the greatest bands of all time. In MY opinion, "Equinox" was the first great album and the begining for them. Such raw talent. Dennis DeYoung, is one of the most under-rated singers of all time. All five made Styx a great band. I first saw them on the "Cornerstone" tour in '79 (An incredible album). Such a shame (as with MOST bands) that DeYoung and the others had to fight. Now with John gone, Styx can never be the same. Styx will rock on forever.

Love you Pops. Thanks Dennis.

@harleyrdr864 Really! thats frigin cool

the same i remeber my dad,my skin turns so delicated, and in the part he does all hat noises it souns like my dad smokin his weed, i love you DAD.
Eric