I remember looking up
To look up to him
And I remember most the times
He wasn't there
I'd be waiting at the door
When he got home at night
He'd pass me by
To go pass out in his chair

And I'd say,
Walk a little straighter, daddy
You're swaying side to side
Your footsteps make me dizzy
And no matter how I try
I keep trippin' and stumblin'
If you'd look down here you'd see
Walk a little straighter, daddy
You're leading me

Well he stumbled in the gym
On graduation day
And I couldn't help but feel so ashamed
And I wasn't surprised a bit
When he didn't stay
He stumbled out before they called my name

And I thought,
Walk a little straighter, daddy
You're swaying side to side
It's not just me who's watching
You've caught everybody's eye
And you're trippin' and stumblin'
And even though I've turned eighteen
Walk a little straighter, daddy
You're still leading me

The old man's still like he always was,
But I love him anyway
And if I've learned one thing from him
It's my kids will never have to say

Walk a little straighter, daddy
You're swaying side to side
Your footsteps make me dizzy
And no matter how I try
I keep trippin' and stumblin'
If you'd look down here you'd see
Walk a litlle straighter, daddy
You're leading me

Yeah walk a little straighter, daddy
You're leading me


Lyrics submitted by Shattered Dreams

Walk a Little Straighter Lyrics as written by James Carson Chamberlain Casey Michael Beathard

Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Walk A Little Straighter song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    I think this song is talking about how the father is an alcoholic and he isn't realizing how his actions are affecting his child. The child wants to be like him but its hard because the dad is making some bad choices with his life

    kla424on January 22, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i'm not so sure, but i think this song is about how the father is not always there for the song..he's not much of a father figure. he messes up a lot, but through it all, there's still a bond between father and son. and he just learns from his father's mistakes to never do the same for his children. it's reallie touching and made reallly think about how much the child depends and needs the father as a role model.

    angelalaon August 15, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this songs pretty sad.

    the meaning i guess is pretty obvious though

    murder13dollson June 05, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Being a child who was abused by a parent (for me it was my mother) I can somewhat relate to the song. I have relatives who were - and some still are - alcoholics. It's a horrible disease and is even more horrible when children are involved in such an environment.

    When Billy was 12-years-old he wrote the chorus of this song because he was dealing with an abusive, alcoholic (step)father, Larry Currington (his mother married arryn when Billy was 1 1/2; Larry is no deceased). To this day he is having to deal with the affects of growing up in such an environment - such as a short temper - and is going through therapy to work through those issues.

    AvalonRoseon April 20, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is so depressing. The child's father was never there for him when he came home from work; he always passed out in the chair from his tiredness. Worse yet, coming graduation he couldn't even stay for the whole ceremony! At the end, the child grows up and realizes that he'll never make the same mistake as his father did in raising children. I don't understand why there are actually children out there who question the love of their parents because they are so reluctant to express it. It really gets me down when I think about it because I have parents that love me and can't imagine being without that.

    hekifieron June 13, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song gets to me because I have an alcoholic step dad and he couldn't make it to my graduation because he was too busy at the bar.....I remember growing up looking up to him like a little girl would and just seeing him constantly drunk.....he is still the same way and I have said now I will not deal with having kids with an alcoholic because I couldn't bear having my kids have to deal with what I had to deal with. I wanted the perfect father figure and till this day I feel like I don't really have one because its better than feeling like he really just didn't want to deal with me and when I was younger because of him I thought it was okay to go into high school drunk 3/4 of the time.... it was a horrible thing and so this song makes me cry every time I hear it

    lilspaz673on August 26, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song made me cry the first time i heard it.

    but i think its about a father whos alwasy drunk and doesnt pay enough attention to his son. but his son still looks up to him.and hes learning a lesson from him .

    where he says: The old man's still like he always was But I love him anyway If I learned one thing from him It's my kids will never have to say The old man's still like he always was But I love him anyway If I learned one thing from him It's my kids will never have to say

    hes saying that even though he hasnt been the best father and role model.he did teach him that he wont drink because he's promising himself that he'll never put his kids through that.

    FALLINGforHIM1994on September 17, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song is so sad and it is not fair that he had to go though what he did when he was growing up and he did not have anyone to look up to when his dad was not their for him exept his mom and who ever was with them when he was growing up and it is not fair that he had to dill with that when it was his gardjuation and he left right before his name was called for what ever he got when he gradjuated from school. Then his car broke down and his dad stood the way he all ways stood but he still loves him and that is messed up that he did that to his own son in real life and that is the part that is messed up in the song and have you seen the offical vido on youtube it is sad as heck.

    booboobear2001on January 22, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    The father is an alcoholic, but it uses the idea of walking straight to mean both literally, regarding his alcoholism, and figuratively, as in to state that he should, as a father, be walking a straight line, because his son is following him and "walking" as he does.

    ilovekelly75on May 31, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Memory

    i as well have a dad who always drinks, i have decided to stop seeing him.. and i have that choice because my mom has custody of me and she allows me to see him whenever i want, i havent seen my dad in about a year now, i do talk to him on the phone sometimes but we always end up fighting about his issues, drinkings not the only problem he has but its his biggest one, any child or adult that has to or has been through this shouldnt have to, every second of the day i worry that i wasnt a good enough daughter for him and i actually believe it, i also have to live with the feeling that my own dad could die any minute of any day and i wouldnt even know. i just thought that i would share this because this song reminds me so much of my dad, for everyone that has parents that are alchoholics my heart and prayers go out to you that they will stop and you will build a strong relationship with them With Lots Of Love<3

    cheergirl8on July 07, 2012   Link

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