Blackwood Brothers - My Last Two Tens Lyrics
Lyrics
(Going home going home tell all my friends that I'm going home)
If you should see me and I can't walk then if you should speak and I can't talk
Feel of me if I'm cold there's a shovel in the car to dig the hole
No I don't expect this last favor for nothing cause you're a busy man my friend
So look on the end of the handle you'll find attacked two tens
There's a phone number on the back of the shovel of a dear friend of days gone by
Call her and tell her to bring her sister I've already gave them two tens to cry
The Lord's prayer's engraved on a penny in the left pocket of my coat
I carry this with me for two reasons the last so I never was broke
Oh I've had a lot of beautiful dreams of things that might have been
So please buy some pretty flowers in my right pocket is my last two tens
I've made a little money in my time but perhaps more than a lot of men
But I spent it all havin' a ball with a few fair weather friends
But you know I brought nothin' with me to this old earth
And now that my journey ends
Me and this old world broke even since you have my last two tens
(Going home going home tell all my friends that I'm going home)
Video
My Last Two Tens
Meaning & Inspiration
Released on August 22, 2015, "My Last Two Tens" by the Blackwood Brothers isn't just a song; it's a profound meditation on legacy, mortality, and the enduring nature of love, all framed through a lens that deeply resonates with biblical wisdom. The narrative unfolds from a place of imminent departure, a final journey home, where the singer, facing his end, makes arrangements not for material wealth, but for the comfort and remembrance of those left behind. This immediately evokes the sentiments of Ecclesiastes 12:7, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." The repeated refrain of "going home" underscores this ultimate spiritual homecoming, a central theme throughout Scripture, from Abraham's journey to the Promised Land to Christ's ascension.
The song's central conceit, the offering of "my last two tens," is a powerful testament to a life lived, perhaps with exuberance and certainly with generosity, even if that generosity extended to "fair weather friends." Yet, in his final moments, the singer's thoughts turn to something more significant than fleeting companionship. The request to "call her and tell her to bring her sister" and the pre-payment of "two tens to cry" speaks volumes about a desire for genuine sorrow and perhaps shared remembrance, a poignant understanding that true grief is a gift. This echoes the Proverbs 17:17 sentiment, "A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." The engraved Lord's Prayer on a penny, a symbol of not being "broke," is a beautiful intertwining of faith and earthly possessions, recognizing that true riches are spiritual and eternal, as Jesus taught in Matthew 6:19-20: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal."
The "pretty flowers" are not merely a request for a funeral adornment; they represent a visual legacy, a tangible expression of beauty cultivated in a life that acknowledges both its triumphs and its follies. The ultimate statement, "Me and this old world broke even since you have my last two tens," is a declaration of acceptance and peace. It speaks to a life that, despite its earthly expenditures, found its true balance in the spiritual realm, mirroring the ultimate reconciliation offered through faith. The Blackwood Brothers, through this song, deliver a message that is both a personal farewell and a universal encouragement: to live with purpose, to cherish true relationships, and to find ultimate peace in the knowledge that our true wealth lies not in what we accumulate, but in what we give and the love we cultivate, mirroring the ultimate giving of God.