Standard (EADGBE)

Intro

 Your father was a rounder he played that rock and roll

 A leaper and a bounder down to his gypsy soul

 The music was his angel and sorrow was his star

 And those of us who follow might hope to reach as far

 They're walking slow in Houston speechless in D.C.

 There's no way I could tell you what he meant to me

 Your mother's a survivor she'll do what must be done

 Her children will revive her and help her see the sun

 She almost knew that unison but the singing stopped too soon

Now she shares the silence with a man up in the moon

 To speak of missing persons tonight there's only one

 And we all carry with us what the man's begun

 And you can sing this song on July the Fourth

 In the sunny south and the frozen north

 It's a day of loss, it's your day of birth

 Does it take a death to learn what a life is worth?

 Your brothers are all older and they'll take it in their stride

 The world's a little colder but manhood's on their side

 Now you're the little girl-child and you look so much like him

 And he's right there inside you each time you want to sing

Sing of missing persons tonight there's only one

 But he's where you can find him when it's said and done

 And we will sing this song on July the Fourth

 From the sunny south and the frozen north

 This will always be your day of birth

 May you always see what your life is worth

Slide solo

 And you can sing this song on July the Fourth

 In the sunny south and the frozen north

 It's a day of loss, it's your day of birth

Coda