Loudon Wainwright Iii - Picture lyrics

There are pictures on the piano, Pictures of the family, Mostly my kids but there's an old Picture of you and me. You were five and I was six In 1952 That was forty years ago How could it be true? We were sitting outside drawing At a table meant for cards, And it must have been in autumn, Falling leaves in the front yard, With a shoe box full of crayons, Full of colors oh so bright, In a picture in a plastic frame, A snapshot black and white. You were looking at my paper, Watching what I drew It was natural: I was older, Thirteen months more than you. A brother and a sister, A little boy and girl, And whoever took that picture Captured our own world. A brother needs a sister To watch what he can do, To protect and to torture, To boss around—it's true But a brother will defend her For a sister's love is pure, Because she thinks he's wonderful When he is not so sure. In the picture there's a fender Of our old Chevrolet Or Pontiac—our dad would know, Surely he could say But dad is dead and we grow old It's true that time flies by And in forty years the world has changed As well as you and I.