The Woman I Was At Twenty-Three
She had a mattress on the bedroom floor And a suitcase she
never unpacked
Said she’d be famous by the end of June Had no idea
what that meant, in fact
She called her daddy when the car broke down Made twenty dollars
last all week She thought she knew just where she’d end up
With the whole wide world at her feet If I could tell
her what I know
Would she
even listen?
Oh, the woman I was at twenty-three
She’d be so surprised to see me
A few more lines around my eyes A lot less need for
anybody’s approval I know when to stay,
I know when to leave Still love that girl who believed in
everything But I wouldn’t trade a day to be The woman I
was at twenty-three (yeah)
She thought forever was a promise If you said it with your
whole heart
Thought the strongest thing she could do Was hold on when things
fell apart
Now I know there’s courage in goodbye
And peace in an ordinary day Some dreams didn’t turn out like
I planned
Some better ones came along the way
Oh, the woman I was at twenty-three She’d be so surprised to
see me
A few more lines around my eyes A lot less need for
anybody’s approval I know when to stay,
I know when to leave Still love that girl who believed in
everything But I wouldn’t trade a day to be The woman I
was at twenty-three
If I could find her in that little room I’d sit beside
her on the floor
Tell her she won’t get everything she wants
But she’ll find things worth wanting more And when she asks me,
“Are we happy?” I’d smile and say
“Not every minute, sweetheart
But we’re doing okay”
OH, THE WOMAN I WAS AT TWENTY-THREE!
I hope she’d be proud to see me
A few more lines around my eyes And a whole lot less
to prove to anybody Still sing too loud,
still love too much Still make mistakes,
still trust my gut And I wouldn’t trade a day to be
The woman I was at twenty-three
She had no idea where she’d end up
I think she’d like it here