It’s more than a week since my landmark birthday (which will remain terra incognito, because I’m not telling you the number), and this morning I finally hit on the song I wanted to post to mark the occasion. On the day itself, I was looking for something traditional, but relating to the passage of time and the brief span of our lives. I ended up posting a Sissel song, because I couldn’t find what I wanted. But now I know just the piece, and I’ve posted it above. It’s called “My Grandfather’s Clock.” You may have heard it, at least if you’re old. I’ve been familiar with it all my life, but had no idea it was as old as it is.

“My Grandfather’s Clock” was published I 1876, the year of the American Centennial, Custer’s Last Stand, and Wild Bill Hickok’s murder in Deadwood. Its composer was Henry Clay Work (1832-1884), a prominent songwriter of the day, especially remembered for his Civil War songs.

He was born in Middletown, Connecticut, into a strongly Abolitionist family, participants in the Underground Railroad. He became a printer, and worked at that trade in Chicago, while also writing songs for minstrel shows.

The Civil War brought him his greatest success. He wrote “Marching Through Georgia,” which you’ve probably heard if you have any interest in the war at all. He also wrote a song called “Kingdom Coming,” which is less well remembered as such, but you’ve probably heard the melody, a standard upbeat number often used in political campaigns to this day.

His star waned during Reconstruction, though he turned his attention to the next big moral crusade, Prohibition. But his sentimental song, “My Grandfather’s Clock” was a big hit, and is still heard today here and there.

Give it a listen. It still works, in its way, if you’re able to relax your sophistication.