My old man was young once, so the photo album claims.
Flip the page from baby jumps some 20 years and change.
From the cradle to the Navy base, the newlywed recruit.
Through the boot camp, to the family man, and a loose civilian suit
It was "Anchors Aweigh" now, singing "Courage, Service, Truth".
Aw, them anchors will weigh you down if you ain't fit to blue. (bloom?)
What did I know about it then? What do I know now?
I have known the kind of man it takes to keep the vow... to keep the vow.
I say "well I just thought..." and he cut me off sayin' "That's what you get for thinkin"
I remember thinking "that's prob'ly not the best lesson for a kid" although that was just something he said.
When I see what I get with my thinking.
I get to thinking there may have been some kind of genius in the effortless way he just... did.
Learn your word is one thing, and keep it if you give it out.
Silence fans the fires a man requires to keep the vow.
What did I know about it then? What do I know now?
I have known the kind of man it takes to keep the vow... to keep the vow.
I could have curled up in one footprint. One giant laugh, one giant pain
When sickness and the treatments shrunk him down to just a man
A shrinkin' man still tinkering with my old, busted car
When his wedding ring must've slipped into the muddy yard
At least that was what he figured when he noticed it was gone.
I can still see him on his knees digging up that lawn.
Now the flag is folded and the numbers are carved,
Mississippi is glistening green.
Another summer is softly calling off
The search for missing things.
But I have found that something kept can keep me company
On these nights when me and my old man go digging into dreams.
What did I know about it then? What do I know now?
I have known the kind of man it takes to keep the vow...
I can only hope as I propose to man the outpost now
I'll be on the memories of the man it takes to keep the vow.