NO GAUGES, NO TATS, THAT'S THAT

I should’ve known he’d be hoppin’ mad
I should’ve known better than to ask my dad
But I thought it would be bad and cool
To braid my hair and wear a tat to school

“No gauges; no tats
No piercings
That’s that,”
You know the rule
So stated my dad

Right out of the gate and right off the bat
I was ready to engage in hand-to-hand combat
I went to the mat ‘cuz I didn’t think that
A gauge or a tat was all that bad

Ain’t no such thing
As somethin’ for nothin’
So I pierced my own
Nose and belly-button

Mom went through the roof
Dad was hoppin’ mad
To tell you the truth
It wasn’t all that bad

But I think it’s sad
That after I did that
Things seemed to change
Between me and my dad

He felt that I had spat in His face
Why did I act like a spoiled brat?
I guess he thought I was a disgrace
‘Cuz nothin’ was the same after that

You may not be able
To undo a tatoo
Or unpierce a navel
But here's something
You can do...

You can pray together
At the kitchen table
And be thankful
For what you do have

Hopefully you still have your mom and dad
And you can think of someone but yourself
If you're lucky, life ain't all that bad
And they both still have their health

Hopefully they've learned not to be so nervous
Maybe they've learned to look below the surface
And not to judge a book so much by its cover
And how to be a better friend, father and mother

With or without piercings or gauges
We’re still the same people inside
We all go through different stages
But we need to swallow our pride

You never know what you might be missin’
‘Til you no longer have it at your fingertips
Lookin’ back, I wish that I’d only listened
In my dream I think I can still read his lips

And I think back to what my dad had said
A lady doesn’t need to do a lot to turn heads
She just needs to be who she was meant to be
Especially if she is well-bred

One spring day I was invited to the prom
I didn’t end up going cuz it just felt wrong
With my tattoo showing and my ear half gone
Stayed up half the night and cried ‘til dawn

And I thought back to what my dad had said
A lady doesn’t need to do a lot to turn heads
She just needs to be who she was meant to be
Especially if she is well-bred

I just hope it ain’t too late to apologize
Now I have kids of my own and I realize
I’m not tryin’ to rationalize my bad behavior
I now see that he was tryin’ to be my savior

Now I understand where dad was at
Back in his day, here were the stats
Boys played with marbles
And girls played with jacks

Lookin’ back I can clearly see
Dad was really tryin’ to save me
From goin’ stark raving mad
And absolutely crazy

They had no piercings, no gauges and no tats
No one had a PC, an MP3 a DVD or a Mac
Didn’t have that many terrorist attacks
That was back before the war in Iraq

They were happy to be where we were at
They were listening to Wolfman Jack
And loved Bob and Bing and laughed
To find The King could sing and act

It was a different time and place
They looked their friends right in the face
Had no use for YouTube or Myspace
Tatoos were taboo; only cowboys cried “yahoo”
And life wasn’t quite so fast-paced

Before Julia Roberts and Richard Gere
Paris Hilton and Britney Speers
Snow White and Sleeping Beauty
Were just beginning their careers

They cruised in cars not on a ship once a year
They played in the park without any fear
Coke and beer came in little bottles
Kids were kids, not supermodels

They were racin' full throttle with no racin' gear
And their cars had gauges but not their ears
Now I'm startin' to see why he had his fears
And I just wish I could take back the tears