There Was a Boy

There was a boy Playing on a swing Deep in love with life Loving everything And he'd speak to God When all alone Making deals with God 'Bout his dreams and hopes When the night would fall And he'd lie in bed Listening to the tunes Playing in his head And the boy made a wish, Prayed to God up high "Let me write a song Makes the whole world cry Let me write a song So tender, sad, and sweet The kind of song Drops men to their knees." Nowhere near a man He didn't understand... That to write a song Makes the whole world cry Have to hold the hand Of a friend who dies Hear your brother curse your name Watch your mother fade away While crooks steal your gold Suffer years being alone Nowhere near a man He didn't understand... That to write a song Makes the whole world cry Have to fall in love Then be denied Meet hopeless kids Raised in cruel neglect Hear animals scream Tortured half to death There was a boy Prayed to God up high "Let me write a song Makes the whole world cry Let me write a song Tender, sad, and sweet The kind of song Drops men to their knees." If I could reach that boy Before it gets too late Warn him there are wishes You should never make But that boy was me And it's far too late Wrote this song in tears Wrote this song in pain And now I'm a man And now I understand So torn up inside Just want to cry I want to cry... cry... cry Oh, God, I want to cry I want to cry