The Good Old Days (Gordon Sheppard) with lyrics and video

#1402 YouTube video by cockandbullbar ©2010.
~ Used with permission ~

I remember so plainly when I was a boy,
The old fashioned wood stove and the kerosene light;
An old iron kettle and a painted wood floor,
An old rag mat would lay there by the door.

My father would call me six-thirty each morn,
Are you goin' to school, boy, sure the day is half done;
You'd climb from your warm bed and you'd swear you would freeze,
You'd walk to the outhouse with the snow to your knees.

You'd come back to the house with breath on your nose,
And you'd smell the bread toastin' on the old iron stove;
You'd sit by the fireside and warm up your feet,
With the oven door open, your breakfast you'd eat.

In the good old days as we call them now,
Everyone was much happier than they are now;
Everyone was contented with this way of life,
There was no difference then, everyone was alive.

With your new rubber boots and your bib overall,
You'd go off to school like the king of the ball;
With your homespun, your cuffs and the socks that would match,
And the old convalacens with the hatch in the back.

Down in the cellar there was plenty to eat,
Potatoes and cabbage, carrots and beets;
Pears in the freezer and fish by the ton,
And mother would make up some old mackerel buns.

When supper was over and the house cleared away,
Everyone was finished their work for the day;
And grandma would live in her old rocking chair,
We'd sit 'round the fireside, our stories we'd share.

In the good old days as we call them now,
Everyone was much happier than they are now;
Everyone was contented with this way of life,
There was no difference then, everyone was alive.

You'd climb into bed with a rock to your feet,
And with an old iron flatiron you'd warm up the sheet;
To ask for more blankets was only a joke,
So to make enough bed clothes leave on an old coat.

The fish is all gone now, the turrs died with oil,
Oh, our simple life has turned into turmoil;
There's no more rag mat but there's carpet instead,
And the old feather mattress is now a new waterbed.

In the good old days as we call them now,
Everyone was much happier than they are now;
Everyone was contented with this way of life,
There was no difference then, everyone was alive.
There was no difference then, everyone was alive.

####.... Gordon Sheppard of Harbour Grace South, NL [1928-2001] ....####

Recorded by Gordon Sheppard (In The Good Old Days)

From the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
Cuffs - 1) thick, usually fingerless mittens, made of wool, swanskin or leather, worn in winter. 2) fisherman's heavy mitten, often with fingers cut off, used to protect the hand in hauling lines or splitting fish.

Newfoundlander Harold Steele tells GEST that convalacens were one piece underwear with a button flap in the back so you could use the throne - a union-suit.

The YouTube video below features the same recording as the video above, but consists of entirely different images.

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GEST Songs Of Newfoundland And Labrador

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