The Beginning of Things

He was born a William But he goes by Bill He's had some big dreams And he has 'em still Well her name's Samantha Only he calls her Sam They grew up together Right outside Birmingham About halfway through college With their heads in a whirl He asked her, "Will you love me always?" She said, "I always will." And they started building a house She's still living there now With her half-painted porch and rusty gold ring He only likes the beginning of things He only likes the beginning of things Now Bill's getting older He ain't settled down still He's got a daughter out of college And she calls him Bill And she goes to visit her mother Where there's good days and bad She only recognizes her half the time but she's always glad She still recalls building a house As if it's happening now With her half-painted porch and rusty gold ring He only likes the beginning of things He only likes the beginning of things Soon after daughter's last visit Samantha passes away The whole family surrounded her just the other day He was the third one to get there Just mother, and daughter, and Bill She said, "Mother never blamed you, but I always will." And he grabs his coat and his hat She ain't surprised by that He's a half-painted porch, a rusty gold ring He only likes the beginning of things He only likes the beginning of things