A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

He Just Disappeared Lyrics
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Listen

He was only a fellow from my little town
Lived on my street, three houses down
We used to hang around and have us a time
His little sister was a good friend of mine
The war began, and we knew he would go
That was how it was back then, don't you know
There were no speeches, nothing to say
He just got on the bus and the bus pulled away

And he just disappeared in the air
Went up in a plane and flew off somewhere
And it never returned and they didn't know why
He just went up into the sky.

They sent back his duffel bag from Vietnam
An officer came with a flag for his mom
The memorial service was awfully hard
They talked about Pat but left out the best parts

He was a rebel and loved rock and roll
He had music and poetry deep in his soul
He meant to return from the end of the world
And sit up at night with his arms round a girl

And he just disappeared in the air
Went up in a plane in Asia somewhere
Went up one day in a clear blue sky
Never came back and we don't know why.

I married his sister not long after that
And we had a boy and we named him Pat
He's married now, and he's turned 33
Older than my old friend ever will be.
When his parents went into the nursing home
They gave us money to buy a gravestone
But we couldn't see wasting it on the dead
So we bought an old motorcycle instead.

I get on that bike and I like to fly
Over the fields neath the big starry sky
I run that bike as fast as I can
And think about that good man.

He just disappeared in the air
About being a hero he didn't care.
He planned to stay here in this beautiful world
And walk down the street with his arms round a girl.