Flat Top Gibson Guitar

The first day I saw him I’ll never forget

Downtown on the sidewalk where we first met

On a small wooden stand by the old timer’s bar

He was singing a song strumming along

On an old flat top Gibson guitar

His tall weary frame showed long years of neglect

And his pride had been buried beside his respect

Recalling the day pushed his memory too far

But when all’s said and done he was second to none

On that old flat top Gibson guitar

On warm summer’s evening when hours were mine

I’d be down there with him from seven till nine

A boy of twelve years dreaming of being a star

So he taught me to play in his own special way

On that old flat top Gibson guitar

We grew as close as father and son

Yet we knew that the time for the parting would come

Then came the night he was not by the bar

I felt so alone that I cried going home

For him and that old flat top Gibson guitar

My mother was standing by our garden gate

Pointing to a car leaving dust in its wake

Your friend came by she said in that old car

And he left on the lawn what you wanted so long

An old flat top Gibson guitar

The years have gone by and I’m up with the greats

I traveled all over the United States

And I’ve searched every crowd but with no luck so far

Wonder where could he be and does he see me

Still playing that old flat top Gibson guitar