Lyrics
Look What Happened
Born in August 1936, Carl has watched yesterday’s impossible become everyday.
Verse 1
Carl came along in August, back in nineteen thirty-six,
When news came through the radio and phones still had a switch.
A television set was something most folks didn’t own,
Now you carry one around inside your telephone.
Verse 2
He saw the war end, Elvis shake, and highways cross the land,
Saw Lucy on the television and Sinatra with the band.
He watched a generation trade the old ways for the new,
Saw suburbs spread for miles as the towns and cities grew.
Chorus
He saw black-and-white turn color, saw a rocket touch the moon,
Saw the Beatles hit America, then the Stones came rolling through.
Saw walls come down in Berlin, watched the whole world rearrange,
Saw things they called impossible become just everyday.
Verse 3
He watched a man step on the moon in nineteen sixty-nine,
A footprint in the lunar dust, broadcast live for all mankind.
Then cable brought a hundred channels pouring through the wall,
And suddenly three networks didn’t seem like much at all.
Verse 4
Cameras gave up film, and telephones gave up the cord,
You can drive from Miami to Asheville with no road map on board.
The record turned to cassette tape, then CDs had their day,
Now every song you ever loved just float through the air to play.
Chorus
He saw black-and-white turn color, saw a rocket touch the moon,
Saw the Beatles hit America, then the Stones came rolling through.
Saw walls come down in Berlin, watched the whole world rearrange,
Saw things they called impossible become just everyday.
Verse 5
He saw milk come in glass bottles, and ice in big ole’ blocks,
He saw hair get long, cars get fast, and music start to rock.
He saw the whole wide world get wired, then wireless somehow,
Now folks who wrote you letters just send a thumbs-up now.
Verse 6
We went from paper road maps folded underneath the seat,
To satellites that tell you where to turn on every street.
From waiting on the evening news, reading papers for the score,
And ordering almost anything without walking out the door.
From waiting on the evening news to knowing right away,
And ordering anything from your chair and gettin’ it next day.
Bridge
There’ve been presidents and pop stars, there’ve been fads that came and went,
There’ve been fortunes made and fortunes lost and dollars badly spent.
But the wildest thing about it, when you add up all the years,
Is how yesterday’s impossible just straight up disappears.
Final Chorus
He saw black-and-white turn color, saw a rocket touch the moon,
Saw Sinatra give way to Elvis, then the Beatles change the tune.
Saw computers, cars and telephones become what no one knew,
And now they’ve got machines that write a country song for you.
Outro
Let’s raise a glass to Carl and all the changes he has seen,
From five-cent Cokes and jukeboxes to gadgets with a screen.
He’s seen typewriters turn to keyboards and photos turn to clicks,
He’s watched the world keep spinning since nineteen thirty-six.