"Daddy, Daddy, Be There"

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Put your hand out to me in scary crowds,

on first school days and roller-coaster rides.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

When my questions need your ears, listening,

your eyes, searching, and your heart, loving me.

Tell me I am smart, Tell me I am special,

Tell me I am able with your ears, eyes, and heart.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Point out pictures in my storybooks,

Read the nursery rhymes to me,

Show me your daddy, your mama, your growing up.

Share a cookie, half a sandwich, a joke,

Share your music, your dreams.

I'll listen with my heart as best I can.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Hug Mama and smile at her

on Tuesdays and in the grocery store.

Kiss us and take our pictures

at picnics and on birthdays.

Tell us big and little stories.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, be there.

Not only on weekends or across telephone lines,

Not only during commercials or between innings.

Share surprises, the only one-time times.

Shout when I slide into home base

or sing solo in the school choir.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Plant new trees and flower bulbs,

And a rose bush for Mama.

Play inside and outside games with me,

Flick water drops and light campfires,

Dive into cold waves,

Slide down snowy hillsides with me.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Trains speed by, Planes lift off,

Cars race around, Trucks inch forward,

Ships sail away,

Teachers change classes,

Grandpas, grandmas, aunts, uncles die,

Sometimes even sisters, brothers, and best friends.

Big people separate and divorce.

See what I see.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

I hear your holler

About money and bills.

I see you push Mama

And take another drink

And turn the television up,

Then leave, slam the door shut.

I feel the holler, the push, the door slammed.

Please stop. Stop, please. Please. Stop.

Make home safe.

Daddy, Daddy,

Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Don't let the world knock you out

And drag you off.

No matter what, struggle back home,

Take my hand,

Let me be your friend.

Do the tough work.

Get well and strong.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

If we live where you and Mama stay gone,

Letting sitters or private schools raise me,

If we live where everyone works

But there is always barely just enough,

And no one sees me,

And feelings end up stuffed in a box,

Find a way to save us.

Make a family.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

During the hard times when the money goes,

During the bread-and-brown-sugar-breakfast mornings,

During the saxophone-blowing-blues nights,

During the in-between, weary working months,

During the string of long years,

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

When others gather,

When they tell family stories,

When one someone says to me:

"What's your daddy like?"

Who you are and what you area,

Who you are and where you are

Will answer!

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

When I dye my hair green or cut it off

Or pierce my ears and nose,

When my music rocks the house.

But grab me when I wander too far from home,

Too close to a danger I cannot see.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

With a firm hand and confident grin,

when I take off with you,

When I graduate, head high,

When I enter a new world,

One you helped me reach,

One you could never enter.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

As I swim mountain lakes, Stride across deserts,

Stretch to the sun and moon and stars,

Build doors and rooms and skyscrapers and worlds.

No matter what, Daddy, I'll know

That you area there, close by.

My Daddy, Daddy,

There.

Daddy, Daddy, Be there.

Let me sit with you,

Let me hold your spotted hand.

Let my eyes be yours, and my ears as well.

I will remember when you were there for me

And asked nothing in return.

Now I am here for you.

Daddy, Daddy,

I love you.