SINGER: Dar Williams

SONG:When I Was A Boy

I won't forget when peter pan came to my house, took my hand
i said i was a boy; i'm glad he didn't check.
i learned to fly, i learned to fight
i lived a whole life in one night
we saved each other's lives out on the pirate's deck.
and i remember that night
when i'm leaving a late night with some friends
and i hear somebody tell me it's not safe, someone should help me
i need to find a nice man to walk me home.
when i was a boy, i scared the pants off of my mom,
climbed what i could climb upon
and i don't know how i survived,
i guess i knew the tricks that all boys knew.
and you can walk me home, but i was a boy, too.
I was a kid that you would like, just a small boy on her bike
riding topless, yeah, i never cared who saw.
my neighbor come outside to say, "get your shirt,"
i said "no way, it's the last time i'm not breaking any law."
and now i'm in a clothing store, and the sign says less is more
more that's tight means more to see, more for them, not more for me
that can't help me climb a tree in ten seconds flat
When i was a boy, see that picture? that was me
grass-stained shirt and dusty knees
and i know things have gotta change,
they got pills to sell, they've got implants to put in, they've got implants to remove
but i am not forgetting
that i was a boy too
And like the woods where i would creep, it's a secret i can keep
except when i'm tired, except when i'm being caught off guard
i've had a lonesome awful day, the conversation finds its way
to catching fire-flies out in the backyard.
and i tell the man i'm with about the other life i lived
and i say now you're top gun, i have lost and you have won
and he says, "oh no, no, can't you see
when i was a girl, my mom and i we always talked
and i picked flowers everywhere that i walked.
and i could always cry, now even when i'm alone i seldom do
and i have lost some kindness
but i was a girl too.
and you were just like me, and i was just like you.