Tim McGraw - You Had To Be There lyrics

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

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

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

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

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