You can fake it for a while
Bite your tongue and smile like every mother does her ugly child
But it starts to leaking out
Like spittle from a cloud, amassed resentment pelting ounce and pound
You entertaining any doubts?

'Cause you had to know that I was fond of you, fond of y-o-u
Though I knew you masked your disdain
I can see that change was just too hard for us, hard for us
You always had to hold the reins, but where I'm headed you just don't know the way

So affections fade away
And do adults just learn to play the most ridiculous, repulsive games?
All our favorite ruddy sons
And their double-barreled guns, you'd better hurry, rabbit, run, run, run 'cause mincing you is fun

And there's a lot of hungry hatters in this world, set on taking it over
But brittle thorny stems
They break before they bend and neither one of us is one of them
And the tears will never mend

'Cause you had it in for me so long ago, boy, I still don't know
I don't know why and I don't care, well, hardly anymore
If you'd only seen yourself hating me, hating me when I'd been so much more than fair
But then you'd have to lay those feelings bare, the one thing I know has still got you scared
Yeah, all that cold ire and never once aired on a dare
You had to know that I was fond of you, fond of y-o-u
So I took your licks at the time
And a change like that is just so hard to do, hard to do
Don't let it whip-crack your life

And I'll bow out from the fight
Those old pious sisters were right
The worst part is over
Now get back on that horse and ride