How am going to explain it to him
what am i going to say when it's something that grim
how the hell do you tell them that there comes an end
how are you going to handle it and still be their friend
how do you explain this world we face
to all of the innocents we have 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
that are easier to tell you just say oh well
i'll explain when he's older but somehow that's colder than i want to be..............

i am uncomfortable lying to a child
feels like building a trap... for something wild
seems like building your house on the sand
and then expecting the ocean to let it stand

somehow i must come up with better stuff i'm just not satisfied with the simplified guff
that they shovel at kids by the handful
like the candy they buy at a stand full
of flags by the side of the road
it's not good for them to hand 'em that load
of crap like they do................

i want a world where i can tell him the truth
about everyone from jesus to john wilkes booth
about how they lie in the house and the senate too
and only get close to the truth when it suits them to and then on 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
and i wonder which thing made them lose their dream
cause mine is alive very much it would seem
and i would just love to be able to hand it to him without the light in those eyes ever getting dim
i want a dream for him..............
i want a dream for him..............
i want a dream for him