Aunt Clara kept her bible right next to the phone
In case she needed a quote while she talked to someone
In my memory she smiles while the blessings said
And visions of freeze tag dance in my head
She says I'll grow up big if I eat all my roast
That I'll still believe in heaven but I won't believe in ghosts anymore

I'll put away childish things, I'll put away childish things

Every other weekend, age of thirteen
With my fishing pole and my Field & Stream
Riding back home on the Trailways bus
I looked out the window till I saw too much
And I called my parents by their own first names
I played in the alley but I didn't play the game anymore

I put away childish things, I put away childish things

The wolves howl all night long
They won't stop and they won't go home
Beneath my window they run
Probably it'll be alright
If I keep it all locked up tight
And wait till daylight comes

Now my boy goes like a house on fire
He'll never burn out and he'll never retire
And I remember when I used to think like that
When I was young and the world was flat
But I'm forty some years old now and man I don't care
All I won't now is just a comfortable chair
And to sell all my stock and live on the coast
I don't believe in heaven but I still believe in ghosts

I've put away childish things, I've put away childish things
I've put away childish things, I've put away childish things

The wolves howl all night long
They won't stop and they won't go home
Beneath my window they run
Probably it'll be alright
If I keep it all locked up tight
And wait till daylight comes
If I wait till daylight comes


Lyrics submitted by findbosco, edited by bjohns7778, Johny108, RLW

Childish Things Lyrics as written by James Mc Murtry

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Childish Things song meanings
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    General Comment

    In regards to the second verse, "looked out the window till I saw too much", I take this as him just observing things in general for long enough and he finally starts viewing life in a different way. And not necessarily in a better way than the innocent, curious way that he did as a child. He started figuring everything out for himself and realized things weren't as joyous as they once seemed. As for calling parents by their own first names, maybe its just me but I have noticed a few people that I have known a while eventually wind up calling their parents by their first names...just something that happens with age. And in the alley, when you were a kid, did you ever have a game or certain thing you did for fun that you never thought would grow old or it never even occured to you that it would grow old? I guess the game didn't really get old; he did.

    db11005on November 23, 2008   Link

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