Lyrics

Grumpy CO (Capo 5th fret, in C)

G C G D
When Dad was in college Uncle Sam paid for flying lessons just down the road.
So he and his buddy passed all the tests on a Curtiss Helldiver, I’m told.
For Paris had fallen and the Brits were pushed back. Hitler was bragging away.
In his senior year Pearl Harbor was bombed. Our country became in harm's way.
He was sent by the Navy with his chemistry degree to the Nebraska Ammunition Depot.
He was met by a classmate and taken upstairs. “Let me show you our grumpy CO”

C G D G C G D
I’m here today. I’m here today, for a twist of fate no one may know.
C G D Em C D G
I’m here today in front of you because of that grumpy CO.

10,000 workers and the lines never stopped. Big shells, depth charges and mines.
They had to struggle to meet the demand as war planes filled up the sky.
Now officers rotated about once a year, but Dad never got sent away.
He served his country in charge of one plant. That CO made sure he would stay.
Refrain

The War just dragged on, the casualties high, a million in Russia alone.
But Hastings, NE was out of the reach of any rocket or bomber then known.
Did that CO hang a picture onto his wall of a son that never returned?
There were dozens like Dad under his command, the reason my Dad never learned.

Em C Am D
The call came for pilots. Dad wanted to go. But the papers weren’t signed by his grumpy CO.
Refrain

Words and Music by David B. Hakan
© 2016 All Rights Reserved 1-30-2016