How am I gonna explain it to him? What am I gonna to say when it's something that grim? How the hell do you tell them there comes an end? How're you gonna handle it and still be their friend? How do you explain this world we face? To all of the innocents we brought to this place?
These and other questions stand in a row And I'm not satisfied with the answers I know What are you going to say to those eyes? I can't even get close to the lies They are easier to tell, you just say,"Oh, well I'll explain it when he's older" Somehow that's colder than I want to be
I am uncomfortable lying to a child Feels like building a trap for something wild Feels like building your house on the sand And expecting the ocean to let it stand
Somehow I must come up with better stuff You see, I'm just not satisfied with all that simplified guff That they shovel at the kids by the handful Like candy they buy at the stand full Or flags by the side of the road Not good for them to hand them that load of crap like they do
You see, I want a world where I can tell him the truth About everything from Jesus to John Wilkes Booth How they lie in the House and the Senate too Only get close to the truth when it suits them to And the very next day They're back to lying that way
Of course it doesn't seem to matter what I want But I look at some of the faces all haggard and gaunt I wonder which thing made them lose their dreams 'Cause mine is alive very much it would seem And I would just like to be able to hand it to him Without the light in those eyes ever getting dim I wanna dream for him
I wanna dream, dream, dream Dream, dream, dream for him I wanna dream for him Dream for him Dream for him Dream for him