[Verse 1]
He sat down, picked up the phone said boy, I'm your old man
He touched the glass between the two as if to shake his hand
The boy he didn't budge, not even so much as a blink
The man said
Oh, come on better late than never, don't you think?
He said I read it in the paper, can't believe you're 21
Can't believe some son of mine could do the things I hear you've done
He went on like some big hero who flew in to save the day
And the boy said, If you're here to scare me right man, it's too late

[Chorus]
You had to be there
And I'm talkin' from day one
That's the only time a man should talk through glass to his new son
And you'd have to go back and teach me how when I was nine
'Cause my mama couldn't throw a ball even if she had the time
And I should have been learnin' how to fish instead of learnin' how to smoke
I bet if you'd have whooped my tail I'd never thought it was a joke
He said sometimes the will for doin' wrong is way too strong for any Mama's prayers
You had to be there

[Verse 2]
The man said boy, I'm sorry that you hate me like you do
The boy said, dry it up, man, we ain't makin' this about you
It's about a teenage girl against the world who was left there high and dry
About a kid who might have stood a whole lot better shot at life
[Chorus]
But you had to be there
And I'm talkin' from day one
That's the only time a man should talk through glass to his new son
And you'd have to go back and teach me how when I was nine
'Cause my mama couldn't throw a ball even if she had the time
I should have been learnin' how to fish instead of learnin' how to smoke
I bet if you'd have whooped my tail I'd never thought it was a joke
He said sometimes the will for doin' wrong is way too strong for any Mama's prayers
You had to be there

[Outro]
Before the boy hung up the phone
He said, they say I'm out of time
And it hit the man right there and then
My God, son, so am I