But Daddy I want to let you know somehow The things you said are so much clearer now And I would turn the pages back But time will not allow The way these days just rip along Too fast to last, too vast, too strong Los Angeles, CA–One common theme between fathers and sons is that the father gives the son advice which the son ignores and considers foolish, only understanding his father’s wisdom many years later.
This is epitomized by the famous quote attributed to Mark Twain:
When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.
I go through this with my teenage son, too, although we’re not to the “understanding his father’s wisdom” stage yet and, according to him, we never will be. Anyway, I’ve been a fan of Jackson Browne’s since I was my son’s age, and while listening to his 1976 record The Pretender the other day I was taken by his song Daddy’s Tune, which also expresses this theme. The lyrics to the song are below–to listen to it, click here. Feel free to share personal stories about this father-son dynamic. Daddy’s Tune A dirty wind blows through the sky And the Autumn leaves cut loose and fly Leave me watching And wishing I could follow Though among the regrets that I can’t get by There are just one or two Unkind things I said to you Daddy what was I supposed to do? I don’t know why it was so hard to talk to you I guess my anger pulled me through No sooner had I hit the streets When I met the fools that a young fool meets All in search of truth and bound for glory And listening to our own heart beats We stood around the drum Though it’s fainter now The older I become Living your life day after day Soon all your plans and changes Either fail or fade away Leaving so much still left to say But Daddy I want to let you know somehow The things you said are so much clearer now And I would turn the pages back But time will not allow The way these days just rip along Too fast to last, too vast, too strong Somewhere something went wrong Or maybe we forgot the song Make room for my forty-fives Along beside your seventy-eights Nothing survives But the way we live our lives