He raced that engine down the track 'round the tree on Christmas day   I was so amazed my dad would play with trains   I saw a sparkle in his eye,    Then I heard him say, come on son let's play, I was young once, too      He washed that Buick faithfully, Lord he kept her clean   I thought that machine meant more to him than me   On the day I turned sixteen he threw me the keys   Said I was young once, too, now she belongs to you      He was such a young man then, I'm older than that now   I hope I measure up to him, when the circle comes around      I saw him in the attic sittin' cross legged on the floor   With some old photographs, he point and laughed   He said, that's me in that picture, I said, no son, that's your dad   I was young once, too, and looked a lot like you      I was young once, too, I was young once, too   Merry Christmas son, I wish your grandpa were here   He was young once, too, and looked like me and you