Another try

Words and music by GERRY BECKLEY
From the AMERICA album HOLIDAY (1974)

This is a song I discovered many years ago, and seems a very powerful description of the effects of a father's alcoholism on his son, who wants his Mum to "pick up the phone" and order his Dad home. Gerry Beckley tends to write songs in the form of stories, a bit like Paul McCartney, so it's hard to tell if this comes from Beckley's own experience, that of a friend, or is merely a story. Whichever, the song packs a punch.

Hey, Daddy just lost his pay
What did he do it for
It never made it through our door
He drank the week away
And what can a family say
There must be a better way
Now mama don't start to cry
Let's give him another try

Pick up the telephone
Tell him you want him home
To sit and watch the evenings pass
And readin' the Leaves of Grass

I'm caught in a closing door
It's pinning me to the floor
Now mama don't start to cry
Let's give him another try

I'm caught in a closing door
It's pinning me to the floor
Now mama don't start to cry
Let's give him another try

When we're old and gray
And the things we say are the things we really mean
So why cause a scene
When things ain't what they seem
'Cause the end result's the same
Now what can a family say
There must be a better way
Now mama don't start to cry
Let's give him another try