[Verse 1: Roaring arena-rock male lead, roaring arena-rock lead, big pounding drums] I was sixteen when my father hurt his back Somebody had to carry home the check and the slack So I walked out of tenth grade in the spring of the year Took a pallet jack and a dock and I parked it right here Twenty-five years of the trucks and the freight Never once was I early, never once was I late But every time a form said highest grade you got I would leave the box empty and I'd stand on the spot Then my boy came home in his ninth grade fall With a paper in his hand and he asked me about it all I said ask your mother, I don't know that kind of math And I saw his face fall and I took a different path [Hook: Roaring arena-rock male lead, full band, wide overdriven guitars] Same stage, same steps, same June I'm forty-one and I'm walking it soon Took me twenty-five years and three nights a week Same stage, my boy is right behind me [Verse 2: Roaring arena-rock male lead, louder roaring arena-rock lead, thick bass guitar] Signed up at thirty-eight for the night classes downtown Ten hours on the dock and then I sat myself down Algebra on the tailgate with a sandwich in my lap English at the kitchen table with my boy as my map He would quiz me on the dates and he would laugh at my spelling I would quiz him on his curfew and the stories he was telling Two of us at one table with the same yellow light Him on his chemistry, me on mine every night First test I failed, and I took it again Second test I passed and I called up my friends Three years of tired eyes, three years on that chair And the letter in the mailbox said we'll see you there [Hook: Roaring arena-rock male lead, full band, wide overdriven guitars] Same stage, same steps, same June I'm forty-one and I'm walking it soon Took me twenty-five years and three nights a week Same stage, my boy is right behind me [Bridge: Roaring arena-rock male lead, cymbal wash, the crash cymbals build bar by bar, wide overdriven guitars ring out] They let the night class go before the seniors that day Gray in my beard and a gown on the way Shook the hand, took the paper, and I turned around And my boy was at the bottom with his cap coming down He was next in the line and he was grinning at me Two of us on one stage for the whole town to see [Final Hook: Roaring arena-rock male lead, full band lands, big pounding drums, raw full voice] Same stage, same steps, same June I'm forty-one and I'm walking it soon Took me twenty-five years and three nights a week Same stage, my boy is right behind me [End]
