Story Behind The Song

My family was planning a surprise 65th birthday party for my dad. We invited all his friends and our relatives. (there were lots of both) He was a pretty good guy. Everybody loved him. As a special present my sister suggested I write and record a song for him and then play it at the party. She thought it would mean more to him than getting a rocker/recliner over-stuffed chair or something. I was still in Bible-school in Seattle at the time and had not yet begun the music part of my life, but had written a couple of songs. With pockets full of inspiration it was easy to write this song. I found a small 8-track studio near Bellevue, gathered a few musicians from school, and taught, recorded, and mixed the song in a few hours. It was the first real song I had recorded. I wasn't sure how my dad would react to hearing the song for the first time in a room full of people, so the day of the party I took him out to the family car and played the song on the cassette player. I think that was only the third time I had ever seen him cry. I had caused my father a lot of grief over the years, and I guess for the first time I felt like I had done something right. Later, at the party, we played it again for all the guests. I still remember how my fathers eyes looked when he came up to me and said how proud he was of me. I was stunned. I didn't know that he felt that way about me. Almost everything else I'd ever done before that faded into obscurity in comparison. I realized then that it wasn't that I had written a song for him that made him say those words, it was because it said that I loved him. I only have one regret; that I waited that long to tell him. Is there anything any of us wouldn't sacrifice to be able to go back and create and find more moments like those? Probably not. This recording is one I did years later in a really nice studio in Vancouver, Canada.

Lyrics

Fortune Traveler
(P.Springman)


Born of the north wind and the freezing rains
Laying all his chances on some seeds of grain
He struggled and raised a family
Didn't talk about the war
Worked day and night to feed them
Could he love them more?

He's just a fortune traveler
And searching for a home
I do hope you find it
A place to call your own
Man of all patience and a heart of gold
In my eyes dad you'll never grow old

No one know what makes a man
Break down and cry
To call him a weaker man
Is just another lie
Following a shining star
May never get you through
But listen to the dreams of your heart
And the words of truth

He's just a fortune traveler
And searching for a home
I do hope you find it
A place to call your own
Man of all patience and a heart of gold
In my eyes dad you'll never grow old

Can you draw me a picture?
I'll keep it forever
Will you tell me a story?
I'll always remember
Can I lay down beside you
Like we did before?
And talk about when you were a boy
Please tell me some more

He's just a fortune traveler
And searching for a home
I do hope you find it
A place to call your own
Man of all patience and a heart of gold
In my eyes dad you'll never grow old