I called my daddy crying
On the day after the flood
To tell him that it took
My flowerbed
The river cut the roses
Oh, before the buds were open
And all my best-laid plans
Were at an end
I said “I’m sick and tired
Of my fogged-up windowpane
And I don’t think I’ll see the ground again.”

And he said “hold on, honey,
It’s not over yet
The only life
That you’ve got to live
So don’t you cut and run
On what you only just began,”
My old man
And I don’t know ‘bout some things
But I know I can trust him
And I know that I love him
My old man

I called my dad to tell him
That they didn't like the song
Although it was the best
I ever sang
They talked all through the open
And they left as it was closing
As if I hadn’t
Given all I had
I said “I haven’t got it
And I guess I never did
And I don’t think
It gets better than this.”

And he said “hold on, honey,
It’s not over yet
The only life
That you’ve got to live
So don’t you cut and run
On what you only just began,""
My old man
And I don’t know ‘bout some things
But I know I can trust him
And I know that I love him
My old man

And if roses never grow
And if there’s no one there to hold me
Through the night and if I never see dry land
And if the doors don’t ever open
And the people never know me
And I can’t turn back the time to start again
I can keep on calling my old man

And he’ll say “hold on, honey,
It’s not over yet
The only life
That you’ve got to live
So don’t you cut and run
On what you only just began,”
My old man
And I don’t know ‘bout some things
But I know I can trust him
And I know that I love him
My old man