OLD MAN NOLL by New Riders of the Purple Sage, Album: Brujo 1974

OLD MAN NOLL WAS A MEAN OLD SOUL
HE LIVED ACROSS THE HILL
I DIDN’T KNOW HIM VERY WELL
AND NOW I NEVER WILL

HE HAD SOME SHEEP THAT GRAZED HIS LAND
AND HE WAS VERY OLD
AND ALL THE KIDS WOULD STAY AWAY
WE KNEW HE WAS A SCOLD

BUT OUR BEST TREEHOUSE WAS ON HIS HILL
AND OUR NAVY SAILED ON HIS POND
THE YEARS HAVE ONLY BROUGHT ME PAIN
NOW I’M SAD THE OLD MAN’S GONE ..CAUSE NOW

CHORUS:
THE FREEWAY ROLLS WHERE OLD MAN NOLL
USED TO RUN HIS SHEEP IN THE MEADOW
AND AS YOU DRIVE BY, IF YOU REALLY TRY
YOU STILL CAN SEE HIS SHADOW

OLD MAN NOLL WAS A MEAN OLD SOUL
AT LEAST THE KIDS THOUGHT SO
BUT WE WERE MUCH, MUCH YOUNGER THEN
AND NOW, I JUST DON’T KNOW

THE WAY IT WAS WHEN IT WAS HIS
THE LAND WAS CLEAR AND FREE
THE LAND WAS LIFE AND WITH HIS WIFE
WAS ALL THAT HE COULD SEE

SO WHEN THE HOUSES CAME AND BROUGHT
THE KIDS WHO THOUGHT HE WAS MEAN
I THINK THAT NOW, AT LAST I SEE
HOW SAD HE MUST HAVE BEEN …CAUSE NOW

THE FREEWAY ROLLS WHERE OLD MAN NOLL
USED TO RUN HIS SHEEP IN THE MEADOW
AND AS YOU DRIVE BY, IF YOU REALLY TRY
YOU STILL CAN SEE HIS SHADOW

memories from childhood of a now paved and extinct by "progress" place with childs-play adventures in free nature

you can hear some songs in myspace