Gone to long

Packed up my life in a suitcase

Chased down the sun in another place

Told myself you’d be okay

That I’d be back before too late

⸻

Every photo on the wall

Felt a little more like a goodbye call

⸻

I was gone too long

You moved on while I held on

Now the house don’t feel like home

And your smile’s not mine alone

I missed first steps, birthday songs

Heard your voice in a hotel phone

And now you don’t reach for my hand

Like you used to when I’d land

Yeah, I was gone too long

⸻

Thought I had time to make it right

Just a few more days, another flight

But you don’t wait for late goodnights

You grow up while I chase the lights

⸻

This ain’t a song for a woman who left

It’s for the little girl I had and forgot I kept

⸻

I was gone too long

You grew up while I wrote songs

I blinked and missed the wonder years

Now I trade applause for falling tears

I missed the way you called me “dad”

Before you learned how not to ask

I told myself I’d bring the world to your door

But all you ever wanted was me more

And I was gone too long