Good Night Boss

CD cover art featuring beautiful photo of the Old Man of the Mountain in winter against a blue sky background. Photo by Chuck Theodore.
Ryan Byrne “Good Night Boss” CD-Single (2003). Cover photo by Chuck Theodore. Ryan wishes to express sincere thanks to the photo copyright owner for digital display permission.

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“Good Night Boss” Lyric

Brothers and sisters alike, we always looked up to him
Just to see his face meant we were home sweet home
And year after year he watched over us all
With the old man there we never felt alone

From an early age we learned our old man was something special
People came from miles away just to meet him face to face
With his chiseled chin and his natural good looks he had the profile of a king
Yes history had saved for him a special place

(Chorus)
Good night boss, may you rest in peace
Your work here is done, for in each daughter and son
Your great spirit will never cease

Well we grew up and delved into our busy lives
A great stretch of time might pass without a moment to share
I guess we took it for granted that whenever we wanted to visit
We thought the old man would always be there

I took my young son on his first hike along with the old man
His young mind filled with pictures of generations past
Now in his thoughts will live forever that time they spent together
Cause who d have known my young sons first hike, would be the old mans last

(Repeat Chorus)

Well deep inside we knew he couldn’t be with us forever
But we knew not his last days would be so near
He instilled in us a deep-rooted, native pride
The day we lost the old man a part of each of us had died

Where once stood such a presence is now an empty space
Its a void no other man could ever fill
But forever etched in our minds is that great stone face
His spirit lives on in each of us and always will

(Repeat Chorus)

Song History

In May of 2003, the Old Man of the Mountain fell from it’s cliff-side perch atop Cannon Mountain in Franconia Notch, New Hampshire. Carved by glaciers during the last ice age, the Old Man was a natural rock formation that resembled a human face. More than 10,000 years after it’s formation, the Old Man was discovered by white settlers in 1805, though Native peoples had known about it for quite some time before and referred to it as “The Great Spirit”.

The Old Man of the Mountain became the New Hampshire state symbol, and it’s famous profile is found on everything from road signs to official documents to the NH state quarter. Unfortunately, soon after discovery it was apparent that the Old Man was in danger of falling apart. Erosion and the repetitive freezing – thawing process over many millenia had taken it’s toll. Vast efforts were made to keep the rock formation from “shedding” off the side of the mountain including the employment of chains, turnbuckles, reinforcing concrete, etc. However, Mother Nature had the final say in the matter – as she so often does – and the Old Man collapsed on May 3rd, 2003.

During that time, Ryan was a music teacher at Lafayette Regional School in Franconia, NH, the town within whose borders the Old Man resided. With only 17 days until the spring concert, Ryan wrote “Good Night Boss” as a tribute, and performed it with the school chorus at the concert. After the concert, Ryan was told repeatedly by the emotional audience that he needed to record the song for posterity. He wrote one more verse and then went into the studio. Ryan used as many local business people as possible to produce the CD. The recording was done at MOJO Music Studio in Franconia, and the CD cover photo was licensed from Chuck Theodore, a local but widely known landscape photographer. Ryan tapped the talents of his Nostalgic Distortion band mates as studio musicians. Despite cheaper overseas options, Ryan opted to have the CDs manufactured in the USA, by Eastern Standard Productions in Buffalo, NY.

Initially Ryan had 1,000 copies of the CD printed. They sold out quickly at local music stores and NH gift shops. Ryan had another 1,000 printed and sold most of those as well. Eventually, the demand for the CD and other Old Man themed products fell to a more “normal” level.

Fast forward to 2020. As the saying goes, everything old is new again, and from time to time new interest bubbles up for this song. But since there is really no such thing as a local music store anymore, the song became hard to find. So, people that were looking to get a digital version of the song began searching Ryan’s website for it. Ryan realized the disconnect with his web presence, at least as far as his NH followers were concerned. There was information about several of the bands and other projects he had been involved with through the years, but not about “Good Night Boss”. Ryan had created some social media sites specifically for “Good Night Boss” several years back, which helped new people discover the song – but people that visited Ryan’s website specifically looking for the song were out of luck . . . Until now, that is! Voila, the “Good Night Boss” page on RyanByrne.com!

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