Lyrics Rod McNeil - Tim O'Brien

Rod McNeil

I make a living from a circuit I made
Out of trial and error and gigs that I’ve played
It might be the money or the town that it’s in
But mostly it’s people make you come back again
There was one little place that I played every year
It’s outside of Pittsburgh, I know it’s still there
Just a little old Moose lodge, the crowd was okay
But you’d never get rich from the money they’d pay
It’s mostly been silent since Rod was around
But that place used to fill with a bluegrassy sound
And I’ll never forget the way he made me feel
A big man with a big heart, named Rod McNeil
You might arrive tired and dark in a gloom
Then he’d buy a big dinner and pay for your room
Pete Rowan would hug him and call him his dad
Maybe that day the lonely road wasn’t so bad
I saw this and said that I’d buy it for Tim
Didn’t I Marty, he’d say with a grin
Now I keep that toy fiddle on my window sill
To remind me of Rod and those grey Pittsburgh hills
It’s mostly been silent since Rod was around
But that place used to fill with a bluegrassy sound
And I’ll never forget the way he made me feel
A big man with a big heart, named Rod McNeil