Soles
Music & Lyrics by David Greathouse
© 2011, Sourdough Music, ASCAP

She wheeled him in and parked him in the corner
And she made her weary way across the ward
When our eyes met, she told to me their story without a word
"Pay no attention to my old man over there
Shaking in his chair, staring at his shoes"
"He'll be ninety-two next Tuesday, but right now he's twenty-three
"And he's taking me to dinner and a movie"

"You know, he bought those shoes he wears down on the corner
At a store that they tore down in '52"
"Like his daddy, he yearned to be the owner
Of a pair of fine Italian wing tipped shoes"
"And we've had those soles replaced four or five times
Just going through the paces of a lifetime"
"But now his mind is drowning deep in memory
Trapped in a loop of "used-to-be" and "used-to-do
But on good days he remembers my name is Sue"

Then a nurse walked up and stood beside her side
She whispered in her ear and she looked her in the eye
"It's time to take your meds," she said so kindly
And as they walked away, one of them was crying...
"Pay no attention," said the old man from his chair
Shaking off his care. "Around here, it's all old news"
"She turned eighty-six in April, but she thinks she's sixty-two
"And she thinks that I'm the guy that wore those wing-tipped shoes"