6 feet tall, blue-eyed charm Entered my life when I was ten I'd watch him laugh, banjo in hand Tryin’ my best to be half that man He could light up a crowded bar He played chess and he could lift a car And when he'd nod and say my name I'd stand a little straighter in the flame But through the years the happiness was dying He was shouting, she was crying In minutes the room would change From silence to storms I couldn't tame No matter how tiny the case, they could clash Doors were slammed, doors got smashed My greatest fear was When she'd leave the house Crying and yelling in plain sight I grew older than my years somehow Standin' guard in an angry house Listenin' close for a rise in tone Prayin' days would just pass on I learned early how to behave When to speak and when to leave But a child don't grow the way it should When it's keepin' peace instead of bein' understood He wasn't always hard as stone There were nights we felt like home Teachin' me chords on an old five-string Sayin', "You can be anything" Now as a parent, I see it clear How love and fear can live so near I carry both, but I made a vow No kid should be an ambassador A kid shouldn't learn to read a room The way I did before I bloomed They should stay young more than I was allowed No kid should be the calm in the cloud I still hear him when I play my guitar Every chord keeps a little scar He shaped me in ways he never knew But I came through the shadows that he grew
