Lyrics

I can never decide if he's anything like me
or if he's something I could not be
he says, "your mother's a lot like that"
and I wonder what that means for me
he says, "I think you'll turn out all right"
and I think maybe that's as much as I could be
as much as I could ever be
as much as I could be

And I know he's a quiet man
and how could I hope to stand up
to a father I can't understand
how could I hope to understand

When we drove through places he had been
I could plainly see the stains of sin
but it was the first such colors I had seen
and I would not go back to those ways again
lest I should be the reverse of him
and before I lose what's left of him
I have to try to turn out all right
even if it's a losing fight

And I know he is an honest man
and how can I hope to stand up
to a father I can't understand, incapable of reprimand
and I know he's a wiser man than he was when he was a younger man
and I know that he's a quieter man
maybe he knows there's more to understand

He says, "we're all here for each other
there's only one reason that I can see, and I've looked around for another
but I've had to adopt a new philosophy of mind
a philosophy of kindness."
So I have to try to turn out all right
even if it's a losing fight

and I know he is a quiet man, incapable of reprimand
and I know he's a wiser man, that I could not hope to understand
and I know he's a wiser man, but I could not hope to ever understand.