Guy Clark - Randall knife

^DMy father had a Randall knife, my mother gave it t^Emo him ^AWhen he went off to WWII to ^Gsave us all from ^Druin ^DNow if you've ever held a Randall knife, ^Emyou know my father well ^AIf a better blade was ever made, it was probably ^Gforged in hel^Dl

^DMy father was a good man, he was a lawyer by ^Emhis trade ^AAnd only once did I ever see him ^Gmisuse the blad^De ^DWell, it almost cut his thumb off ^Emwhen he took it for a tool ^AAh, the knife was made for darker things ^Gand could not bend the rule^Ds

^DHe let me take it camping once on^Em a Boy Scout jamboree ^AAnd I broke a half an inch off ^Gtrying to stick it in a tre^De ^DI hid it from him for a while ^Embut the knife and he were one ^AHe put it in his bottom drawer ^Gwithout a hard word on^De

^DAnd there it slept and there it stayed ^EmFor twenty some odd years ^ASort of like Excalibur ^Gexcept waiting for a t^Dear

^DMy father died when I was forty ^Emand I couldn't find a way to cry ^ANot because I didn't love him not ^Gand not because he didn't tr^Dy ^DI'd cried for every lesser thing, for Whiskey, pain^Em and beauty ^ABut he deserved a better tear ^Gand I was not quite read^Dy

^DSo we took his ashes out to sea ^Emand poured 'em off the stern ^AAnd threw the roses in the wake ^Gof everything we'd learne^Dd ^DAnd when we got back to the house, ^Emthey asked me what I wanted ^ANot the lawbooks, not the watch, ^GI need the things he's haunte^Dd

^DMy hand burned for the Randall knife ^Emthere in the bottom drawer ^AAnd I found a tear for my father's life ^Gand all that it stood fo^Dr