Dar Williams – When I Was A Boy lyrics

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, I didn't care who saw.
My neighbor came 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 where 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've 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 it's way
To catching fireflys out in the backyard.
So 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, 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 cry all the time, 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."