From the recording EPic
In 2013 I hitchhiked from where I was living in Tucson AZ to Pennsylvania. On the way home a fellow picked me up, and he kept saying: “I do not know why I picked you up. I have never picked up a hitchhiker before, I have no idea why I picked you up.” Finally he asked me what I was doing in PA?
“I was going to a Bible Camp.”
He said: “Oh. Now I know why I picked you up. I have a problem. Maybe you can help me out.”
And he told me this story.
There is no advice in this song, because he kicked me out as soon as he finished his story. So I never got to tell him what I thought. But I wrote this song in case maybe, if you ever meet him, you can give him your advice.
Lyrics
Theres a young man on the mantle,
He’s been polished till he gleams.
There are stories at the table,
But nothing’s as it seems.
Well my kids they don’t remember,
While I’m aware of who I was.
So I hide behind the icons
So they don’t ask too much.
Well I try to teach them,
That we’re stronger than the trees.
But how can I convince them,
What I don’t feel in me?
Well they live like blowing leaves,
Watch me like the waning moon.
And they’re standing In the sunshine,
But they’re staring in a darkened room.
Just like the leaves before they fall the view changes as you run.
When everything you remember gets colored by what you’ve become.
I burned up all my brighter days, until everything that’s left is cold
If you live fast while you’re young, you live slow when you get old.
Well the wind blew, where I wanted
Till my freedom changed to shame
And I ran to the shadows
Now have to hide my name
Cuz the trees they are bare now,
And they’re scraping against the sky.
Since the night flashed, and the cold came,
As I watched that bank teller die.
Just like the leaves before they fall the view changes as you run.
When everything you remember is colored by what you’ve become.
How can I raise my children right, when the truth is never told
If you live fast while you’re young, you live slow when you get old.
Refrain fade:
How can I raise my children right, when my own souls been sold
If you live fast while you’re young, you live slow when you get old.