The madness of your family seed;
The funny way that folks can be;
The fear of Change is weighting me;
It was a solitary shade tree.

The tragedy of childish things;
Moving on, so life can bring
The richness of a medicine;
Hard to swallow down.

I tried to watch you down the drive;
Watch your tailights fading;

Can't say that I was angry;
Can't say that I was anything;
I couldn't feel a lot of things...
It was a solitary shade tree.

This bitter boy is ripe for you;
No bitter heart is right for you;
Butterflies are fleeting things;
You know I got the message;
Step into the world, start out at the roots.

A minutes worth of steady ache;
A little breath, and I can stand;
One little step, and I'm a man;
If steady on the path.

I turned the timepiece over;
This way I could remember;
When my will, so sober;
Washes over everything.

This bitter boy is ripe for you;
No bitter heart is right for you;
Butterflies are fleeting things;
You know I got the message;
Step into the world, start out at the roots.

I knew they wouldn't understand;
They think he's more of man than I am;
For all this time I've ambled on;
The silence never broken.

But I've learned prudence in the innings since;
Cautious love, not bitterness;
No static easy to forget
The rest of us, unspoken.

This little boy is ripe for you;
No bitter heart is right for you;
Butterflies are fleeting things;
You know I got the message;
Step into the world, start out at the roots.