C C Joshua was an old man, his beard like mountain snow F C And when I was a boy we'd have jam sessions C C I'd sneak off to old Sharptop, with my guitar I would go F C When I should have been at school, learnin' my lessons G And he'd sip a little moonshine F And I'd smoke a corncob pipe G F And we'd pick all day until our fingers bled G And right around supper time F I'd run home in the night G F C Just in time to get a whoppin' from my Dad C C My friend Joshua tells me that picking wont pay the rent F C Well I set out to prove him wrong in time C C I dont guess I can recall all the hours that I spent F C Just beating on that old flat top of mine G Me and my friend Joshua lord F We must have played them all G F And I got to where I could put the old man to shame G F I don't guess it ever seemed to bother Josh at all G F G We still loved to pick 'em just the same C G F Oh, way back when C G F He was 65 and I was 10 C G F And I will never be as free again C G F Oh, way back when C C The summer flew by quickly and Josh and I spent our time F C Writing words to songs from memories of his past C C He'd tell me bout the way it was and I'd find the perfect rhyme F C And I couldn't believe how we wrote our songs so fast G F I never knew an old man could be so full of life G F The love we had was so hard to explain G F And I remember how the tears fell when he spoke of his late wife G F And I'd give him my 6-string to ease his pain C G F Oh, way back when C G F He was 65 and I was 10 C G F And I will never be as free again C G F Oh, way back when Instrumental Bridge (Solo): D, F, C, G, D, F, C, G And then in late November F G F I knocked on his cabin door, I knocked and knocked but Joshua never came G F And I still remember, how he layed there on the floor G F And I went home a-cryin' in the rain C G F Oh, way back when C G F He was 65 and I was 10 C G F And I will never be as free again C G F Oh, way back when C G F Oh, way back when C G F Oh, way back when