I heard a lot of songs say, "Where you goin' my son?"
Now I know they're true,
Boy you never stop to think how fast the years run,
Now they've taken you.
I remember you was three-and-a-half,
Your ma and me would sit there after things got quiet then,
We'd laugh at some new word you said,
How tough you were to get to bed,
And we planned the night away,
Planning for our kid.
I was your hero then,
I couldn't do no wrong as far as you were concerned,
You thought I was the best of men,
The tables hadn't turned,
You hadn't learned,
How little time it takes,
And daddies make mistakes.
Seems to me that lately I've been thinking a lot,
I think about my dad.
Lots of funny things come back I thought I forgot,
Now they make me sad.
High school and it used to be,
I didn't want him touching me and I shuddered if he did.
Further back to summer nights,
Baseball games beneath the lights and sleeping in the car,
My daddy, and his kid.
He was my hero then,
He couldn't do no wrong as far as I was concerned,
I thought he was the wisest, and the strongest, and the best of men,
The tables hadn't turned,
I hadn't learned,
How little time it takes,
Everybody breaks,
And daddies make mistakes.
I heard a lot of songs say, "Where you goin' my son?"
Now I know they're for real,
Boy you never stop to think how fast the years run,
And the things they steal.
Now it seems I always knew,
Why I do the things I do and the things I never did,
Why I worked my whole damn life,
So's I could give the better life than the one my dad could give me,
And give it to my kid.