Somebody Else’s Dream

I spent years chasing a finish line

Somebody else had drawn

Learned how to smile for a photograph

Then wondered where I had gone

I knew exactly what they wanted

I knew exactly what to say

But somewhere between the applause

And packing up another case

I started asking myself…

Was I living somebody else’s dream?

Was I wearing somebody else’s name?

Did I become the man they wanted

And forget the man I came to save?

I’ve got nothing against the road

It gave me more than I can say

But tonight I’m sitting with myself

And that’s a different kind of stage

There were rooms where I was welcome

There were rooms where I wasn’t

There were people who loved the music

But never asked what it had cost me

I don’t regret the miles behind me

I don’t curse the years I gave

I just wish I’d learned a little sooner

That a life ain’t something you save

Maybe I’ve been looking for permission

From people who were never there

Maybe all I ever needed

Was the courage to be fair

To the boy I used to be

To the man I’ve finally

become

I was living somebody else’s dream

Till I finally woke up one day

And found the man beneath the costume

Still had something left to say

So if you hear me singing now

Don’t call it a second chance

I didn’t come back for yesterday

I’m here because I can.