My Father's Body - Over the Rhine

My father’s body lies beneath the snow

High on a hill in Holmes County, Ohio

From there you can look out across the fields

A farmer guides his horses home as day to darkness bends and finally yields

Dad’s gravestone holds the words «Be Still My Soul»

A song we sang together long ago

And there were times we even shared one hymnbook

His right hand and my left hand side-by-side holding pages of music

But now his hands hold nothing but the earth

Hands that held me moments after my birth

And so we must all finally surrender

As we release our grip upon whatever we hold dear and call familiar

My father’s body lies beneath the snow

And I’m still learning how to let him go

I’ve come to know him better since he’s gone

And often wondered if or how I could’ve been a different better son

My father’s body lies beneath the snow

Sometimes on Christmas Eve that’s where I go

I hear faint Christmas bells from far away

Ring out all the unspoken words I’ve never found within myself to say