Surviving Twin

Loudon Wainwright III

Last week i attended a family affair
And a few remarked upon my recent growth of facial hair
You look just like your father did
With that beard someone said
I answered back i am him
Even though my old man's dead
I didn't want to be him
Well at first i did
When i loved & looked up to him
As a little kid

He sent me to his old school
I was a numeral with his name
And he gave me this gold signet ring
And he wore one just the same

And i guess that i believed him
And probably it was true
When he told me i was just like him
That's what some fathers do

But a father's always older
And my dad was rather tall
Who says size doesn't matter
He was big & i was small

I needed to be big enough
To be someone someday
And i learned i had to beat him
And that was the only way

I'm alive and he is dead
And neither of us won
It's spoiled for the victor
Once the vanquishing is done
A man becomes immortal
Through his daughter or his son
But when he fears his legacy
A man can come undone

And the beard is a reminder
I'm a living part of him
Although my father's dead and gone
I'm his surviving twin