I slept for several nights in a hospital while my girlfriend of the time stayed with a family member who was dying very young from the effects of alcoholism. I noticed a lot of the people who would come to visit said "take care of yourself" to my girlfriend when they left, when the person we were there to see with had not.
I felt like people say that because they depend on the people who are important to them for their own happiness. It sounds like a tossed-off remark of general well-wishing, but since then I have always understood it to mean "you are important to me."
lyrics
This old man, he played a foolish game
The same one that you have
A long the road that leads to nowhere fast
& this man was wrapped up in his vice
He always drove so fast
Much faster than his wife, his daughter & his son
So take care of yourself
Oh! Take care of yourself
Take care of yourself, 'cause others care for you
This old man, he wasn't the one to suffer
The tears he cried were few
to the torrents shed by all his next of kin
& this old man, why did he go so young?
Why couldn't he give it up?
When he died, he was older than he was
So take care of yourself
Oh! Take care of yourself
Take care of yourself, 'cause others care for you
To all the young fools & the old youngsters
Your days are longer than you ever knew
So please take care of you
So take care of yourself
Oh! Take care of yourself
Take care of yourself, 'cause others care for you
Take care of yourself
Oh! Take care of yourself
Take care of yourself, 'cause others care for you
credits
from Backwords,
released April 13, 2020
Patty Pershayla: Harmony Vocal
Dale Wicks: Everything Else
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