Worked all his life in the rail yards
Summer heat, winter cold
He sits by the fire, now he’s retired
But he don’t really feel all that old

She comes in from the kitchen
And sits on the arm of his chair
He looks up and says, “Hey, lady, I love you”
Runs his fingers through her hair

And there’s a picture on the wall of Jesus in the garden
It’s been there since they got the house in ’53
Hey, they ain’t no big deal whatever go down in history
It’s just a little story of an American family

She waited for him in World War two
He fought the European campaign
Their son John spent two years in Nam
That war it wasn’t the same

Billy’s out in L.A., he’s a lawyer now
They worry he's so far away
Jeannie got married and lives here in town
She's comin’ over with the kids today

And there’s a picture on the wall of Jesus in the garden
It’s been there since they got the house in ’53
Hey, there ain’t no big deal, whatever go down in history
It’s just a little story of an American family

But the whole world is different now
Blood's been spilled on our shores
In hard times we pull together
That's what a family's for

Hey, there ain’t no big deal
It's written in our history
We're all part of the story of an American family
We're all part of the story of an American family