Get Up and Go

Posted Sat Jun 26, 2010 in

The lyrics to How Do I Know My Youth is All Spent? are by Pete Seeger:

How do I know my youth has been spent,
My get-up-and-go, got up and went.
But in spite of all that, I’m able to grin,
When I think where my get-up-and-go has been.

Old age is golden, so I’ve heard said,
But sometimes I wonder as I get into bed.
My ears in a drawer, my teeth in a cup,
My eyes on a table until I wake up.

When I was young my slippers were red,
I could kick up my heels right over my head.
When I grew older my slippers were blue,
But still I could dance the whole night thru.

Now that I am old my slippers are black,
I huff to the corner and puff my way back.
The reason I know my youth is all spent,
My get-up-and-go has got up and went.

I get up each morning dust off my wits,
Pick up the paper and read the orbits.
If I’m not there, I know I’m not dead,
So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed.

They’re good… and appropriate.

What I remember is that the preacher who married Wife and I, Warren Rutledge, after counseling us, picked up his guitar and sang this to me. He found out I am a guitar player and spontaneously sang for us. I got a kick from it, but Wife wasn’t so impressed.