Tom: D
D
He sat down, picked up the phone
Bm
And said, "Boy, I'm your old man"
A
He touched the glass between the two
Bm
As if to shake his hand
D
The boy, he didn't budge
Bm
Not even so much as a blink
A
The man said, "Oh, come on
BmA
Better late than never, don't you think?"
D
He said, "I read it in the paper
Bm
Can't believe you're 21
A
Can't believe some son of mine
Bm
Could do the things I hear you've done"
D
He went on like some big hero
Bm
Who flew in to save the day
A
And the boy said, "If you're here
BmA
To steer me right, man, it's too late"
D
"You had to be there
A
And I'm talkin' from day one
BmA
That's the only time a man should talk
GA
Through glass to his new son"
D
"And you'd have to go back
A
And teach me how when I was nine
BmA
'Cause my mama couldn't throw a ball
GA
Even if she had the time"
Em
"And I should have been learnin' how to fish
F#m
Instead of learnin' how to smoke
G
I bet if you'd have whooped my tail
F#m
I'd never thought it was a joke"
Em
He said, "Sometimes the will
F#m
For doin' wrong is way too strong
A
For any Mama's prayers
D
You had to be there"
D
The man said, "Boy, I'm sorry
Bm
That you hate me like you do"
A
The boy said, "Dry it up, man
BmA
We ain't makin' this about you"
D
"It's about a teenage girl against the world
Bm
Who was left there high and dry
A
About a kid who might have stood
BmA
A whole lot better shot at life"
D
"You had to be there
A
And I'm talkin' from day one
BmA
That's the only time a man should talk
GA
Through glass to his new son"
D
"And you'd have to go back
A
And teach me how when I was nine
BmA
'Cause my mama couldn't throw a ball
GA
Even if she had the time"
Em
"And I should have been learnin' how to fish
F#m
Instead of learnin' how to smoke
G
I bet if you'd have whooped my tail
F#m
I'd never thought it was a joke"
Em
He said, "Sometimes the will
F#m
For doin' wrong is way too strong
A
For any Mama's prayers
D
You had to be there"
D
Before the boy hung up the phone
Bm
He said, "They say I'm out of time"
A
And it hit the man right there and then
BmD
"My God, son, so am I"