Little Boys Grow up and Dogs Get Old
Bandit was a black lab
Daddy brought home
he said “son, he’s yours from now on.”
Bandit looked at me and he cocked his head
slept that night on the foot of my bed
all that year I can see him still
chasing after me
nippin’ at my heels
down to the bus stop
my new best friend
still waitin’ right there
when I got home again

and I thought we would be together
go on and on just like that forever
but I was young back then
I guess I just didn’t know
little boys grow up and dogs get old

he was my sidekick through thick and thin
and he’d bark at my fish when I’d reel ’em in
summers came and went
and we grew like ****s
and I don’t know if I raised him or he raised me

and I thought we would be together
go on and on just like that forever
but I was young back then
how was I supposed to know?
little boys grow up and dogs get old

he was fourteen when I left for Tennessee
and we came down the front porch steps a little slower
I got down to hug his neck
said, you take care of mom
and dad till I get home.
be a good boy
now, you be a good boy.

and I thought we would be together
go on and on just like that forever
but I was young back then
oh, god I wish I didn’t know
little boys grow up and dogs get old