Aunt Hazel

Lyrics by Tom Sharp, based on “Aunt Hazel” by Tom Sharp. (Open ukelele chords are shown in superscript. For instrumental measures, the strums are shown, D for down and U for up.)

^EmDo you think, brother mine, ^Fwhen we get ^Dmold, ^EmDU D ^FDU D ^DmD D D ^AmD ^Fwe’ll get sentimental ^Dmabout Aunt ^AmHazel? ^FDU D ^DmDU D ^AmD D D ^EmD ^EmRemember she baked those ^Fsweet sticky ^Dmrolls ^Gmthat she kept in a large ^DmTupperware ^Amtub, ^GmDU D ^DmDU D ^AmD D D ^FD ^FMom would take us all there ^Ato visit ^Amher ^Gmstaying Sunday ^Ftill cows came ^Dmhome? ^GmDU D ^FDU D ^DmD D D ^EmD ^EmYes, her hair was short and thin. ^AmShe was always short of breath, ^GmHope she wouldn’t ^Dmtake offense ^Dmbut she was fat, ^Amand her smiles ^Gmcrinkled in the corners of ^Dmher light blue ^Ameyes, ^GmDU D ^DmDU D ^AmD D D ^EmD ^Gmplaying rummy ^Dmall day with ^AmMom. ^GmDU D ^DmDU D ^AmD D D ^FD ^EmAll her family they had grown ^Fand moved a^Dmway. ^EmDU D ^FDU D ^DmD D D ^AmD ^FHer first husband he had ^Dmdied, left her ^Amthere. ^FDU D ^DmDU D ^AmD D D ^EmD [slower, downstrokes only] ^EmShe lived in an ^Amold country, ^Gm[upstrokes for second syllables] where women worked but never had ^Fjobs. ^GmDU D ^DmDU D ^AmD D D ^FD ^FAcross the road the ^Aredwood ^Amtrees ^Gmgrew in rings a^Fround huge flat ^Dmstumps. ^GmDU D ^FDU D ^DmD D D ^EmD ^EmI guess she wasn’t fatalistic, ^Ambecause she loved to gamble. ^GmShe and her girlfriends they ^Dmnever missed ^Ambingo. ^FOnce after she drove off the ^Aroad in her ^AmFord, ^FDU D ^DmDU D ^AmD D D ^EmD ^Emshe told me that she just bounced ^Faround in^Dmside ^Gmas it rolled it’s way down ^Fthe mountain ^Dmside. ^GmDU D ^FDU D ^DmD D D ^EmD ^EmRemember the goat that she had ^Ftied to the ^Dmbush ^EmDU D ^FDU D ^DmD D D ^AmD ^Fon the side of the hill ^Dmbehind the ^Amhouse? ^FDU D ^DmDU D ^AmD D D ^EmD ^EmUp and down the bank it climbed ^Feating the ^Dmhazel. ^GmTold my friends that this was ^Dmthe way that ^Amshe ^Fgot her name, hazel shrubs, ^Abehind her ^Amhouse ^Gmand that she always lived ^Fin that old ^Dmhouse. ^GmDU D ^FDU D ^DmD D D ^EmD We swung on the tire under her walnut tree. I remember peeling black tarry shells off walnuts that had fallen to the dirt, little white worms wriggling in the tar, and when I cracked a shell with a rusted hammer, the nut was green and bitter. There was a room over her garage that was full of moldy boxes and cans of rusty nails. Uncle Raymond used to live there. Bees had nested in the wall and they had to tear it down to get them out. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t like the place. It was a four-room shack with peeling wallpaper, several layers of linoleum on the floor, dirt on the windowsills, and Elbert, her husband, who didn’t talk, watched television in the dark living room. I’m afraid I’ll forget these things, or they’ll get all stuck together. ^FI’m afraid I’ll forget ^Dmwhere I put ^Amthem, or leave them behind when I move. As I get older, a larger and larger past has to fit into the same shoe box.