For the longest time, I guess I thought 

He didn't give a damn 

Hard to read, hard to please 

Yeah, that was my old man 

On the day I left for college 

It was nothing new 

We never had that heart-to-heart 

He had too much to do 



[Chorus:] 

He checked the air in my tires 

The belts and all the spark plug wires 

Said "When the hell's the last time 

"You had this oil changed" 

And as I pulled out the drive 

He said "Be sure and call your mom sometime" 

And I didn't hear it then 

But I hear it now 

He was saying "I love you" 

(He was saying "I love you") 

The only way he knew how 



120,000 miles 

Six years down the road 

A brand new life and a brand new wife 

We'd just bought our first home 

When he finally came to visit 

I thought he'd be so proud 

He never said he liked the place 

He just got his tool belt out 



And put new locks on the doors 

Went back and forth to the hardware store 

Said "Come and hold this flashlight" 

As he crawled beneath the sink 

And "These old wires ain't up to code" 

And "That circuit box is gonna overload" 

And I didn't hear it then 

But I hear it now 

He was saying "I love you" 

The only way he knew how 



Last Sunday, we all gathered 

For his 65th birthday 

And I knew he'd stiffen up 

But I hugged him anyway 

When it was finally time to say goodbye 

I knew what was next 

Just like he always does 

Right before we left 



[Repeat Chorus] 



He knew how