I'm older than my old man ever lived to be God rest his soul if there is even such a thing I wanna believe the boy he left behind has gone on to become a decent next-in-line All this time without has been way too long Idle minds give way to expectations unsatisfied Set by a hero Hyperbolized in the eyes of a child Taller than houses Smarter than foxes Stronger than a yoke of oxen How could I live up to such a fiction I've concocted? My youth's half-truths form what I recall I don't mind as most history is peppered with lies It's not enough to rue what was So here I busk on strange streets and such Singing of water guns to the face and Black Sabbath on Christmas day It keeps me from cryin' I'm wary to wait for too little, too late on some master plan I stake no claim to happenstance I keep adding up through the frivolous stuff to work out the chance that I might make you proud The only way that I can figure how is to lead a life that doesn't leave me beat and bled dry

September when I left this house A decade ago, a tag-along gone headed South Wet behind the ears yeah, green as they come but we wouldn't make music with just anyone We sowed some wild oats sure hit some high notes Wow Where did the time go? Si'l vous plait I'm pleased to say that I can call you friend of mine I see now Of the many lessons I've learned Brother let me tell you this stands out: We've grown up a bit but the beat don't skip when we lay it down Listening back to our own rock n' roll Synonymous with a time a life ago Way back when days were spent drinking pots of coffee, talkin' shop We killed that radio When did that book close? ... Maybe that's all we wrote Maybe it's only writer's block or just a twist within the plot I've danced around the onus longer than allowed like an elephant tip-toes around the mouse but it buys me time to come and go as I please to come be involved like I wanna be... See the family... Oh, how he's grown ...

I cannot tell the day from night No, no, no If a year had passed me by How would I know? These thoughts I'm holdin' in This patience wearing thin An imagination running wild An imagination running wild... Squint your eyes to bend the light reveal these shades of color Don't blink or else it's over The times are only changing Let's stop this war we're waging We're painted into corners When you see the world in black and white Whoa You're forced to choose a side Wish I could say it ain't so It's much to my chagrin that we so stubbornly believe in the lie that we must step in line ... The mark of a wise man to give the other side the time of day Left to our devices to entertain a thought, an idea that we're at odds with If for nothing else but to amuse ourselves If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times Whoa There's a sea between the left and right Weigh your anchor, eat crow What trouble are we in when the eloquent begin to stutter? A divide that spreads for miles ....

Hey do you remember when Mom dressed us up in matching clothes and all the benign punches that we'd throw? A bond so true and tried it's funny how best friends can be such rivals All the trouble we made and every little secret we have stashed away I'll never be too old or too grown up to wanna do it all again You can see it in our features You can test it in our blood You can hear it in our voices if you listen close enough In a blue moon we fight but when push comes to shove... We know we're hand in glove The only one to lose what I've lost One of very few to share the womb You couldn't make an offer I'd refuse and that's the gospel truth So there we were without a care in all the world couldn't see beyond our noses what the universe would hurl our way until we shared the worst day of our lives when we heard that same bad news We learned our first great lesson, there and then that once it's lost it's gone for good You can see it in our features You can test it in our blood You can hear it in our voices if you listen close enough In a blue moon we fight but when push comes to shove... We know we're hand in glove The only one to lose what I've lost One of very few to share the womb You couldn't make an offer I'd refuse and that's the gospel truth What's thicker than blood or stronger a scent than copper? Still wading the flood... Keeping our heads above water And now we're men we laugh and drink every now and then Drunkenly beginning every other sentence with "Hey, remember when?" Eventually one of us will outlive the other and the selfish part of me hopes I go first I wouldn't fare well in a world without the kid I once convinced to piss into mom's purse You coulda seen it in our features coulda tested it in our blood You coulda heard it in our voices if you listened close enough In a blue moon we fought but when push came to shove... We were always hand in glove The only one to lose what I've lost One of very few to share the womb You couldn't make an offer I'd refuse and that's the gospel truth

Express yourself while you have your health 'cuz tomorrow's not a certain bet and the kids may wish to know you well one day Why rush to seduce the muse when there's nothing to fear but fear itself? We assume we have our youth the here and now's the only moment to answer to Our salad days are wilting fast See your seeds to fruition Don't hand 'em down to just anyone if fate should have you abandon your precious art like that unfinished portrait of FDR What a shame for your incomplete works to go unexplained Or worse yet never see the light of day Misrepresenting the ghost Who will inherit the fortune prepared but left on the cutting room floor? Will they release what wasn't meant for the world? And how will the lawyers react when the voyeurs come waving their cash? Those salad days sure wilted fast When the kids grow up will they receive the message as you'd hope? Will the theme hold up? Or will it come undone like telephone? See your seeds to fruition Don't hand 'em down to just anyone if fate should have you abandon your precious art like that unfinished portrait of FDR