(G)  | (G)  | (G)  | (G)  | (Gm)  | (Gm)  | (A)  | (A)

[Verse]
        G
For the longest time, I guess I thought he didn't give a damn
D                                   Bm              A
Hard to read, hard to please, yeah, that was my old man
       G
On the day I left for college, it was nothing new
   Gm                                A
We never had that heart-to-heart, he had too much to do

[Chorus]
               Bm                   G
He checked the air in my tires, the belts and all the spark plug wires
      D                    Em             G                     A
Said, "When the hell's the last time, you had this oil changed"
       Bm                                   G
And as I pulled out the drive, he said, "Be sure and call your mom sometime"
      D                                  A
And I didn't hear it then, but I hear it now
               Em      F#m G
He was sayin', "I love you"
         A           G     G G G Gm Gm A A
The only way he knew how | | | | | | |

  G
A hundred twenty thousand miles, six years down the road
  D                                         Bm                    A
A brand new life and a brand new wife, we'd just bought our first home
        G
When he finally came to visit, I thought he'd be so proud
   Gm                                     A
He never said he liked the place, he just got his tool belt out

[Chorus]
            Bm                                G
And put new locks on the doors, went back and forth to the hardware store
      D                   Em                 G                        A
Said, "Come and hold this flashlight," as he crawled beneath the sink
               Bm                                G
And "These old wires ain't up to code" and "That circuit box is gonna overload"
      D                                  A
And I didn't hear it then, but I hear it now
               Em      F#m G
He was sayin', "I love you"
         A           D
The only way he knew how

     F
Last Sunday, we all gathered for his sixty fifth birthday
C
And I knew he'd stiffen up, but I hugged him anyway
            F
When it was finally time to say goodbye, I knew what was next
Em                        A
Just like he always does, right before we left

[Chorus]
               Bm                   G
He checked the air in my tires, the belts and all the spark plug wires
      D                    Em             G                     A
Said, "When the hell's the last time, you had this oil changed"
       Bm                                   G
And as I pulled out the drive, he said, "Be sure and call your mom sometime"
      D                                  A
And I didn't hear it then, but I hear it now
               Em      F#m G
He was sayin', "I love you"

[Tag]

               Em      F#m G
He was sayin', "I love you"
         A           G
The only way he knew how