Every generation blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door
I know that I'm a prisoner

To all my father held so dear
I know that I'm a hostage to all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him
In the living years

Crumbled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations
I'm afraid that's all we've got

You say you just don't see it, he says it's perfect sense
You just can't get agreement in this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talking in defense

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye

So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It's the bitterness that lasts

So don't yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have new perspective
On a different day

And if you don't give up and don't give it
You just might be okay
I wasn't there that morning when my father passed away
I didn't get to tell him all the things I had to say

I think I caught his spirit later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo in my baby's new born tears
I just wish I could have told him
In the living years