From the recording Roughing It
Written in late summer; recorded from the songwriting session. it's often easy to feel like I'm a kid that still hasn't grown into my faith, longing to sit at the big kids' table. Inspired by that feeling.
Lyrics
All alone on a summer afternoon
Bare little feet climb dusty stairs up to the attic
Daydream cathedral of a room
Bare shafts of light in musty air alive with static
In a box of old coats I find
my superman's cape and
I dream of the day
I can call it, I can call it mine
When will I stop feeling so small
When I wear daddy's jacket
How long 'til I am tall and strong like him
I will hold up the sky with just one hand
I'll fly and never land
When I'm a grown up... next week
All alone in a noisy, crowded room
Cocktails and champagne conversations buzz around me
Morse code on a tablecloth by two sweaty hands
my anxious thoughts a blanket that surrounds me
Though the suit makes me look the part
It feels like a sham
Don't they know who I am?
That i'm only just a kid inside
When will I stop feeling so small
When I wear daddy's jacket
How long 'til I am tall and strong like him
One day I'll be as smooth as Fred Astaire
I'll be dancin' on the air
when I'm a grown up
Time doesn't grow our feet
To fit the shoes we choose to fill
Fear doesn't go away
Once we crest some arbitrary hill
So when will I stop feeling so small
When I wear daddy's jacket
How long 'til I am tall and strong like him
I will finally know why I'm who I am
On my own two feet I'll stand
When I'm a grown up... next week
Maybe next week