Jimmy Buffett – The Rocket That Grandpa Rode lyrics

There’s an old gypsy moth
Made of glue and cloth
That lands in a horse-filled field
An unusual event
For those palomino gents
Who just stare at their future revealed

Why oh why-oh
Did he fly out of Ohio?
Before we knew that genes held the code
But taking to wing is a haunting taunting thing
Just like that rocket grandpa rode

Yeah it was a rocket that grandpa rode
Sounds like bragging but it’s true
I’m not tryin’ to bedtime you
Shot up into space
And he said ‘look out down below’
Gotta love that rocket that grandpa rode

And the kids turned to flying machines
With their arms opened wide like wings
But one solitary boy
Knows a plane is not a toy
I’m talkin’ ‘bout the man on the moon
I still remember July ‘69
We all got to stay home from school
In stark black-and-white
We followed the flight and the whole world was in that capsule

Oh on the rocket that grandpa rode
Sounds like bragging but it’s true
I’m not tryin to bedtime you
Oh what a flight you better look out down below
Yeah, that’s the rocket that grandpa rode

Space men and women on this bus
An old beast driver I don’t trust
We’re going to watch the shuttle fly away—last day
And for some kids behind my seat
There’s a very special treat
More than just history on parade

Giant nozzles, bolts and beams
They called her Atlas by all means
Blood, sweat, and tears were her payload
She was a stairway to heaven
Old Apollo Eleven
The rocket ship their grandpa drove

Yeah, on the rocket that grandpa rode
Sounds like bragging but it’s true
I’m not tryin’ to bedtime you
Rising up from that lagoon
We beat those Commies to the moon
Yeah, on the rocket their grandpa rode
Yeah, on the rocket their grandpa drove

Thank you, Neil
Thank you, nasa
(Yeah, it was a rocket)
Thank you, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock
(Yeah, it was a rocket)
Scottie, Lieutenant Uhura, Mr. Chekov
(Yeah, it was a rocket)
Yeah, the rocket their grandpa rode
(Yeah, that’s the rocket)
(Yeah, it was a rocket)
(Yeah, that’s the rocket)
(Yeah, that’s the rocket)