[Intro | G Major | 76 BPM | fingerpicked acoustic guitar, soft upright bass, faint brushed percussion] Nobody warned me. Not really. They told me to do my homework. They told me to get a job. They told me to save my money. They never told me what any of it was for. [Verse 1 | acoustic guitar, upright bass] When I was seventeen I thought being grown meant leaving home Getting my own place Buying my own things And nobody asking where I'd been I thought there'd be a moment When everything finally made sense Like somebody would hand me a book And say, "Here. This is what you do now." Nobody did. [Verse 2 | add brushed drums, quiet mandolin] Nobody told me your friends would start becoming strangers Not because anybody did anything wrong Just because everybody got busy Nobody told me some people you swore you'd know forever would become names you haven't said in ten years Nobody told me you could miss somebody without wanting them back Nobody told me that was normal. [Chorus | fuller acoustic arrangement, restrained harmony vocal] Nobody warned me Nobody said You can do everything right and still lose things They told me I'd grow up someday They never told me what came next Nobody warned me That the people you love get older That someday your parents will look smaller than you remember And one day you'll realize they were scared too [Verse 3 | pull drums back, intimate vocal] Nobody told me how strange it feels to remember being a kid To remember exactly what you thought your life was going to be And then look around and realize This is it. This is the house. These are the bills. These are the people. This is the life. Nobody told me you don't stop being sixteen just because the calendar keeps moving. [Verse 4 | gradual build] Nobody told me some mornings you'd wake up tired before you'd even done anything That sometimes you'd sit in your car for a few minutes before going inside Just because you needed to be nobody for a little while Nobody told me that being responsible sometimes means doing the thing you absolutely do not want to do While some part of you is still hoping somebody older will come tell you it's okay to go home. [Chorus | stronger, emotional harmony] Nobody warned me Nobody said You can love your life and still be exhausted by it You can be grateful and still miss what you had They told me I'd grow up someday They never told me what came next Nobody warned me That growing up isn't becoming somebody new It's carrying every iteration of yourself you've ever been And pretending you know where you're going. [Bridge | stripped to acoustic guitar and voice] And I think about my parents now How certain they seemed Like they knew what they were doing Like they had answers Like they weren't just two people trying to keep everything from falling apart I used to think they knew something I didn't. Now I'm older than they were when they had me And I still don't know. [Final Chorus | full arrangement, restrained but soaring] Nobody warned me Nobody said One day the people you love will become memories while you're still making new ones One day you'll look at an old photograph and realize you didn't know you were living through the good part Nobody warned me That time doesn't ask It just keeps moving They told me I'd grow up someday They were right. I just wish somebody had told me I'd miss being young while I was still young. [Outro | acoustic guitar alone] Nobody warned me. Nobody warned me. Nobody warned them.
