The Story:
    Growing up in South Dakota my family did custom cattle work. Freeze branding, artificial breeding, pregnancy testing, etc., if it said moo, we did it. It was dangerous work with serious consequences for yourself or others. I can still hear my dad snapping, “Both hands while learning!” when I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing.
    This was my second write at a song based around that phrase. Actually, my dad has probably been fishing no more than five times in his life. But as they say, “Never let the truth stand in the way of a good song”.

    Give my daddy a pair of pliers and little wire
    And he can fix anything
    Got his PHD on grandpa’s knee, a tractor seat
    And the front porch swing
    Every Sunday after church
    He’d change out of his one good shirt
    Grab his old khaki jacket and a can of worms and go fishin’
    And he’d take me along ....and he’d say...

    Use both hands while learnin’, keep takin’ up that slack
    Don’t waste time wishin’ go fishin’ for the big’un
    Cause you gotta throw the little ones back
    You gotta learn when it’s time to set the hook
    And when to leave well enough alone
    When it’s down to get doin’ and it’s gotta get done
    You gotta fish, cut bait, or go home

    When I was sixteen daddy seemed mean, out-of-touch,
    Old, and in the way
    Then about the time I turned twenty five
    He started getting smarter everyday
    Now every morning I put on a fresh white shirt
    Grab a tie and jacket and go to work
    It’s a hundred-mile-a-minute life a man could get hurt
    But I’m doing fine just a’doin’ what my daddy said
    ...and he said....