“The Greatest Man I Never Knew” – performed by Reba McEntire

“The Greatest Man I Never Knew” – performed by Reba McEntire

The greatest man I never knew lived just down the hall,
and ev’ry day we said hello but never touched at all.
He was in his paper. I was in my room.
How was I to know he thought I hung the moon?

The greatest man I never knew came home late ev’ry night,
He never had too much to say. Too much was on his mind.
I never really knew him, oh and now it seems so sad.
Ev’rything he gave to us took all he had.

Then the days turned into years, and the mem’ries to black and white.
He grew cold like an old winter wind blowing across my life.

The greatest words I never heard I guess I’ll never hear.
The man I thought could never die has been dead almost a year.
Oh, he was good at bus’ness but there was bus’ness left to do.
He never said he loved me. Guess he thought I knew.

The song “The Greatest Man I Never Knew” was written by Richard Leigh and Layng Martine, Jr. It was performed by Reba McEntire. This song is unique because it does not have the same sympathetic tone that other memorial songs have.

The meaning of this song is very deep especially because it revolves around the relationship between a father and a daughter. The lyrics may not be the typical lines that you see on funeral poems that are very caring and loving towards the deceased because if you read and listen closely, the piece talks about a very busy dad who didn’t have a lot of time with his daughter. And as he passes away, the daughter simply listens to the stories of other people talking about how great of a person her dad was when she didn’t experience it herself.

Even though the song may sound very sad, it has a very nice and positive meaning. It teaches people to live life to the fullest and not let work destroy your relationships with your families. You must always treasure the time that you have with the people that you care about because you will never know when your time is. The piece also says that you should say and express your love to other people and not just expect that they already know how you feel for them.

If you want to read more about this song and other funeral songs, you can visit www.songmeanings.net.