From the recording Landmark
Lyrics
Way back when he had no money,
And they called him Jack and they called him funny,
My dad had a wife called honey and a daughter he called son.
We lived in a homely castle,
And I clung to him like his only shadow.
He said, “Kid, it’s a lonely battle, this life. And then it’s done.”
Oh son, if you write this down, I hope you know it ain’t the bible.
Oh son, if you write this down, it ain’t no way to know.
Oh son, if you write this down, please don’t use it for survival
Oh son if you write this down, I hope you let go.
I grew up on the banks of rivers
And the book of love and my daily dinners.
Then once in the strangest winter my father passed away.
And I looked for some new direction
In a tattered book and some old affection,
But it took seeing my reflection in the face of my own babe.
Oh son, if you write this down, I hope you know it ain’t the bible.
Oh son, if you write this down, it ain’t no way to know.
Oh son, if you write this down, please don’t use it for survival
Oh son if you write this down, I hope you let go.
Oh son, I am just someone whose words got in your brain.
Oh son, you are just someone who learned what I would say.
Oh son, we are all someone whose only passin through.
And I hope you write down on your own what’s right for you.
I seen good, and I seen some evil,
And knock on wood, I still see what’s real.
And I stood for some real good people, and they stood up for me.
Now you’re part of a line of something,
But it’s just you’re start, and it don’t mean nothing.
Kid, your heart is the one that’s pumpin. It’s the only one you need.
Oh son, if you write this down, I hope you know it ain’t the bible.
Oh son, if you write this down, it ain’t no way to know.
Oh son, if you write this down, please don’t use it for survival
Oh son if you write this down, I hope you let go.