My Father's Footsteps

Put your foot where mine has been.
The hollow is too wide. Then stretch.
I did.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
I placed my little boots inside the marks you made.
Lift your eyes, the path is more than where you step.
You set an oar within my unready hands.
Feel where the hard tide pulls, then pull against it.
I learned to read the change in wind from you.
Give no oath your hands will not fulfill.
Men will never fail you, left me in the snow.
Rise, failure is a teacher, not a name.
I thought becoming strong
meant matching stride for stride.
So every road I chose... Was measured against yours Step by step, I follow where you led Word by word, I carry
what you said Your back before me, straight against the storm Your shadow was the shape I tried to form I
thought your path was all I had to know I thought your height was all I had to grow But every lesson pointed
farther on You showed me the road Then trusted me to walk beyond it
Na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na,
na-na-na Na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na-na Na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na You showed me
the road, then trusted me to walk beyond The winter slowly settled in your bones The hands that held the oar
began to shake Your stride grew short where once I had to run Then you placed your footsteps inside mine One
morning at the valley's final rise You stopped where two roads opened through the pines I waited there for one