Then and Now – Frank Poland: Lyrics & Music – Thinking about the past six decades, it’s clear that so much of what’s familiar today didn’t exist. It’s incredible how much our lives have changed over these 6o+ years. If you were around back then, you’d remember a world where you had to wait for a letter in the mail instead of checking email, and where a road trip revolved around a paper map. It’s almost impossible to imagine some of the things we now consider essential: smartphones, streaming services, and even social media, which weren’t even ideas then and are now realities.
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THEN AND NOW
In nineteen-sixty-two, life was calm and quaint,
The future painted with colors, bright yet faint.
Now, in twenty-twenty-six, I stand,
A world transformed, with technology in hand.
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Where once the postman brought the things we write,
Now instant emails shipped at the speed of light.
The telephone booths, once a common sight,
Replaced by hand held phones, used day and night.
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Folks tap on phones to talk and see,
No rotary phone for you and me.
With screens so bright, they stare and gaze,
Unconsciously lost in a digital haze.
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Music was spun on vinyl, a cherished sound,
Now streams from clouds, swiftly loaded down.
Televisions once 3 channels of black and white,
Now projecting countless streams of colorful sights.
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Cars had stick shifts, fins and engines that roared,
Being replaced by S U V’s and cars with electric cores.
Bluetooth whispers, connects devices with ease,
No more cables to snare or lines to see.
GPS whispers where land we roam,
Navigating strange territory as if it was our home.
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Shopping in store of past, each purchase we planned,
Now computers online, the world’s merchandise at hand.
Books with pages, a special friend,
Now EBooks and pixels, they never end.
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Where missing the past, my heart does yearn,
For simpler times, with no difficulty to learn.
The world is changing as time goes by,
With each new day, more technology flys.
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Dining was modest, a household meal we all shared,
Now fast food is everywhere with no time to spare.
The laughter of kitchens, where families would dine
Replaced by convenience, the fastfood line.
As flavors are packaged and culture is sped,
I yearn for the warmth of a homecooked meal instead.
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So here I stand embracing the view,
With eyes wide open, changing from old to new.
In today’s world, information spins like a thread,
No letters penned by hand, no long lines of dread.
A tapestry of knowledge, instant as a spark,
Just wipes and taps light the digital dark.
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Oh, how the world as spun since those days gone by,
With marvels of technology that reach for the sky.
I have matured through time and space,
With the new technology, I feel out of place.
I’m a ghost from the past with 80 years gone
Trying to find my way, a place to belong.
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I miss the sixties calm, the slower pace,
A friendly smile upon each face.
This future feels way too fast,
Love my old world, forever my memory will last.
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