The first years are easy, when love is all you need
A woodstove, a kitchen, a little bourbon, a little weed
A woman who loves you, a baby on your knee
And a reckless belief in the things you can't see
But like every good story when act two arrives
We encounter the limits of our everyday lives
And the woman who loves you begins to have doubts
And the child needs more than what you can give out
Two makes a difference
Three makes it seem
The whole world is a wonderland
And you're living in a dream
Two exchange the presents
Three makes the scene and
It's a wonderful life
But one can only dream
And the walls start to close in when the money runs low
You do what you can do but there's nowhere to go
The mill isn't hiring, the print shop's been sold
It's now a full service Starbucks or so I was told
So you start with the habits they instilled from your birth
You pray to a heaven that you can't see from earth
And when your prayers don't get answered, when no angel appears
You blame yourself for their suffering, the cause of the tears
And where is the magic, when miracles cease
When you can't keep the promise, when you can't find the peace
What is Christmas, to a man who is lost
Whose value is less than what the effort might cost
I made another mistake when I took a look back
As I walked down the driveway and faded to black
I saw my little girl's face, her eyes filled with pride
In a father whose faith in himself had just died
There is no Christmas story that I could ever contrive
That would fill up the whole that I Ieft in her life
So won't you grant me wish on this cold Christmas Eve
Take me backward in time so I can choose to not leave