Now and Then

My childhood, in a nutshell, and reinterpreting it thirty years later. For some reason, I can still picture the Busy Box at the edge of the crib. Two of the experiences that most changed my life were learning to read and learning to play guitar.

When I was the age of one, I had a magic box.
Knobs for making noises, and holes for fitting blocks.
I probably paid attention five minutes, maybe ten.
It seems like such a short time, now.
It was a long time, then.

And I remember sitting down with Dad when I was three.
He had a pack of flash cards that he wanted me to read.
Charlie Brown and Dr. Seuss became my best of friends.
They seem so elementary, now.
They seemed like poets, then.

CHORUS
Now and then,
Something I been missing.
Now and then,
I can’t go back again,
But there’s something in the distance
‘Tween the child and the man
That makes me need to listen
To that child, now and then.

When I got to grade school, I was the jealous kind,
Of all the kids who’d grown and left their childish things behind.
I was in such a hurry to join that world of men,
And I would give that whole world, now,
For a little time back then.

CHORUS

And I remember mom and dad, our family so strong.
They always had the answers when my questions came along.
Til mama kept the kids, Lord, and daddy, he moved out.
I didn’t understand it, then.
I wish I didn’t, now.

CHORUS
That makes me need to let that child in,
Now and then.
Open up that door and let him in,
Now and then,
Now and then.

Words and music © 1995 by Steve Brooks and Frog Records
(512) 440-7668
[email protected]
www.stevebrooks.net

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