(Verse 1) I don't remember what we argued about Probably a bedtime, or a scraped-up knee But I remember how your voice sounded When you leaned down and said “little one, count on me” You smelled like coffee and the garage floor And your hands were so big on my tiny bike You said the world was a spinning door And you’d hold it still for me… any night (Chorus) Then a phone call, and a siren song A blue light where you don't belong I was eight years old, still in my school shoes Learning what "forever" meant to lose Momma fell apart like a stained-glass sky So I learned to hold the tears and never ask why They say a boy grows up when his father falls I just stood in the kitchen, and built my own walls (Verse 2) I watched my mother disappear for a year Into a bedroom that forgot the sun So I poured my own cereal, faced my own fear And decided the crying was done I paid the bills with a crayon checkbook I made her dinner, a little burnt toast I was a kid with a grown-up look Playing the father to the woman who loved him the most (Chorus) Then a phone call, and a siren song A blue light where you don't belong I was eight years old, still in my school shoes Learning what "forever" meant to lose Momma fell apart like a stained-glass sky So I learned to hold the tears and never ask why They say a boy grows up when his father falls I just stood in the kitchen, and built my own walls (Bridge) Now I’m thirty, and she’s finally laughing At a memory she found in a drawer Your old watch is still ticking, and I’m still practicing The man you were headed for I don't blame you for leaving, that was a twist of fate I just wish you could see who I had to become The day the sheriff knocked, and I opened the gate And the whole world told me my childhood was done (Chorus - slower, more worn) That phone call, and that siren song That blue light where you don't belong I was eight years old, still in my school shoes Learning what "forever" really meant to lose Momma fell apart like a stained-glass sky So I held the tears, I never asked why They say a boy grows up when his father falls I just stood in the kitchen… and answered the calls (Outro) I don’t have many pictures in my mind Just a shadow, a laugh, and a hand in mine You were so dear… and gone so fast The man I had to bury… just so I could last Yeah, the man I had to bury… Just so I could last.
