American Family

(album: American Dreams - 1989)

Worked all his life in the rail yards
Summer heat winter cold
He sits by the fire,
This year he'll retire
He don't really feel all that old.
She comes in from the kitchen
And sits on the arm of his chair
He looks up and says “hey lady I love you”
Runs his fingers through her hair.

There's a picture on the wall of Jesus in the garden
It's been there since they got the house in '53,
It ain't no big deal, won't ever go down in history
It's just a little story of an American family.

She waited for him in World War 11
He fought the European campaign,
Their son John spent two years in “Nam
That war it wasn't the same.
Billy's out in L.A., he's a lawyer now
They worry he's so far away,
Jeannie got married, she lives here in town
They're coming over with the kids today.

There's a picture on the wall of Jesus in the garden
It's been there since they got the house in '53,
It ain't no big deal, won't ever go down in history
It's just a little story of an American family.
It's just a little story of an American family.