You Had To Be There

He sat down, picked up the phone
And said, "Boy, I'm your old man"
He touched the glass between the two
As if to shake his hand

The boy, he didn't budge
Not even so much as a blink
The man said, "Oh, come on
Better late than never, don't you think?"

He said, "I read it in the paper
Can't believe you're 21
Can't believe some son of mine
Could do the things I hear you've done"

He went on like some big hero
Who flew in to save the day
And the boy said, "If you're here
To steer me right, man, it's too late"

"You had to be there
And I'm talkin' from day one
That's the only time a man should talk
Through glass to his new son"

"And you'd have to go back
And teach me how when I was nine
'Cause my mama couldn't throw a ball
Even if she had the time"

"And I should have been learnin' how to fish
Instead of learnin' how to smoke
I bet if you'd have whooped my tail
I'd never thought it was a joke"

He said, "Sometimes the will
For doin' wrong is way too strong
For any Mama's prayers
You had to be there"

The man said, "Boy, I'm sorry
That you hate me like you do"
The boy said, "Dry it up, man
We ain't makin' this about you"

"It's about a teenage girl against the world
Who was left there high and dry
About a kid who might have stood
A whole lot better shot at life"

"But you had to be there
And I'm talkin' from day one
That's the only time a man should talk
Through glass to his new son"

"You'd have to go back
And teach me how when I was nine
'Cause my mama couldn't throw a ball
Even if she had the time"

"I should have been learnin' how to fish
Instead of learnin' how to smoke
I bet if you'd have whooped my tail
I'd never thought it was a joke"

He said, "Sometimes the will
For doing wrong is way too strong
For any Mama's prayer
You had to be there"

Before the boy hung up the phone
He said, "They say I'm out of time"
And it hit the man right there and then
"My God, son, so am I"