Salvatore Giuseppe Sichi - Cranky Old Man
Channel: Salvatore Sichi
Date: 2020-06-09

This song is available on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3wJra95IFOgpVa54Nc8qhB?si=qhGAYdhERxOCfZ6vt_XmRA

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/cranky-old-man-single/1538648924

Based on a poem I came across on Facebook. Powerful words!
Music written and performed by Salvatore Sichi (www.banderalatina.nl
Poem by Phillys McCormack,  The original poem was called Look Closer and was about a crabbit old woman obviously for an international audience the guid Scots word “crabbit” had to go. It was written by a Montrose nurse, Phyllis McCormack, in 1966.

The work was brought to the attention of the Post in 1973, when a copy was found in the possession of an old woman who died in a geriatric hospital.

Lyrics:
What do you see nurses?......What do you see?
What are you thinking... when you're looking at me?
A cranky old man,......not very wise,
Uncertain of habit.......... with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food........ and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice..'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice...the things that you do.
And forever is losing......... A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not...... lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding....The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?..Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse.you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am...... As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding,..... as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten..with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters....... who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen..... with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now...... a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty.....my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows.....that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now.....I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide... And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty....... My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other.... With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons...have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me.. to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more,.....Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children.... My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me.... My wife is now dead.
I look at the future....... I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing.... young of their own.
And I think of the years... And the love that I've known.
I'm now an old man........ and nature is cruel.
It's jest to make old age....... look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles..... grace and vigour, depart.
There is now a stone... where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass. A young man still dwells,
And now and again..... my battered heart swells
I remember the joys....... I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living....... life over again.
I think of the years, all too few.... gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact... that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people......... open and see.
Not a cranky old man.
Look closer.... see............ ME!!

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You can find Salvatore's music on Spotify, Apple Music an al major online music streaming platforms.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/32kV5bXMbbmkBir7fV8Lxp
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/salvatore-giuseppe-sichi/1180654267