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Fingerpicked folky Americana with a nice melodic introduction. “Papa” is another “first time” recording. It is a personal song. Our relationships with our parents are complex, and involve judgements from both ends of the relationship. As my father judged me, here it is turned around with me as the posthumous judge of him, but not without love. Could be a Patti Griffin song.

lyrics

Papa


Papa always said he'd take it with him
Though it turned out that it wasn't all that much
Mama said they'd end up in the poorhouse
They never learned to have a golden touch
But they did alright

Papa always lived close to the country
He loved to get his hands down in the soil
Mama'd worked the harvests with her sister
She'd learned to can the crops that came from papa's soil
And they did alright

CHORUS:
Papa was a healer
I was never sure just how he got to be
The times that papa lived in
Had robbed him of a piece of empathy
Those times weren't easy
But he did alright

How's a man like that get so damned crazy?
He was a bigot though he struggled not to be
Almost eighty working on a reservation
Before he learned to have a little empathy
I guess he did alright

Papa blamed poor people for his problems
Or the government who gave it all away
He never seemed to care if he got wealthy
You'd never guess it if you heard the things he'd say
He thought that he was right

CHORUS:
Papa was a healer
I was never sure just how he got to be
The war had torn his mind up
It took going through a war myself to see
That it isn't easy
But we do alright

Papa loved the quiet of the mountains
He'd take an easel and he'd sit and paint for hours
You could see his love of landscape in his paintings
And the colors of the brightest mountain flowers
It made him feel alright

I hope that papa knew how much I loved him
He wasn't perfect, but he tried his best to be
The little boy who dogged him all around his garden
Thought there was no one else on earth he'd rather be
On this winter's night

CHORUS:
Papa was a healer
I was never sure just how he got to be
The times that papa lived through
Had served to build his sense of empathy
Those times weren't easy
But he did alright
Those times weren't easy
But he did alright
It's still not easy
On this winter's night

credits

from Tandem, released March 5, 2023

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Steve and Kristi Nebel image

Steve and Kristi Nebel Tacoma, Washington

Steve and Kristi Nebel bring passion, finesse, and beauty with their songs of social justice, knife edge observations, and pure, simple love. They have traveled extensively having done nine tours in UK folk clubs and festivals. They have recorded more than ten CDs, mostly of their own songs. ... more

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