Track 11 of the album Paper Moon Rent · 2011
Take Your Time, Daddy
“I wrote this for my own father, who holds the rail now. It's the quietest I've ever sung, and I'd like to close the record there.”
jazz ballad · family ballad · church-hall piano · 4:05
Lyrics
Daddy, you walk a little slower now You hold the rail on the stair You used to whistle all the way home Now you rest halfway up there I pretend I'm not counting the steps I pretend I don't see But I have learned the music of your feet And it's a gentler melody Take your time, I'm in no hurry Take your time, we have all night I will play the slow song for you And I'll leave on the porch light You taught me every kind of patience Without ever saying a word Take your time, I'm in no hurry You are the finest song I've heard You tell the same old story twice About the war, the dance, the girl I laugh the second time like the first You are the whole wide world Your hands that fixed the broken bike Now struggle with a coat I fasten up the buttons Like you once did for me, I note Take your time, I'm in no hurry Take your time, we have all night I will play the slow song for you And I'll leave on the porch light You taught me every kind of patience Without ever saying a word Take your time, I'm in no hurry You are the finest song I've heard Someday the chair will be empty And the hat will hang by the door But the song will go on playing In every room, forevermore So sit with me by the piano Hum the line you used to know I'll find the key, I'll find the chord I'll play it nice and slow Take your time, I'm in no hurry Take your time, we have all night I will play the slow song for you And I'll leave on the porch light You taught me every kind of patience Without ever saying a word Take your time, I'm in no hurry You are the finest song I've heard Take your time Take your time