Dad, it's a hard time to grow up in
when every day you're yellin'
at me to win, and you think I'm runnin'
to 1st place
but I say the sun's in
your eyes
and you must be blind
because whatever you see, it sure ain't me,
because we both know I'm not a winner.

Daddy it's a hard time to grow up in
when smart kids throw up in
anxiety because
if they were just a little smarter,
they'd get in the right college with the right major and land the right jobs
but today, just being smart isn't smart enough

when an average looking girl gets asked out on a date
only by guys who think she's ugly enough to be easy,
but it sure wasn't easy to find out
that in between the lands of “Good Enough” and “Public Disgrace”
and hidden in the ocean of “Silent Outrage”
I've made a home in the island of “Kind of Okay”,
and one day, I'll find the words to say,
that that's where you'll find me.

Daddy, tell me 'bout the good ol' days
Did kids who dared to be different
find that each time they were teased and picked on and called names
it killed originality and chipped away at their personality
until they'd rather be the same,
even if it drove them insane
and made them being invisible?
Or was it really a simple time when politicians (except Nixon) were honest, students worked hard, families went to church and moms and dads loved each other til death did they part?

Daddy, tell me please-
Did girls still feel like they had to be thin to be beautiful, and they had to be beautiful to be worth something?
Did boys still feel like that if they were bullied it was because they were weak, and if they were weak, then they didn't deserve to live?
Did families still eat dinner together, or did they take their meals upstairs because they'd rather eat with the TV for company than with those familiar strangers?
Did everyone tell your generation that they are weak and self-absorbed, because nobody ever taught you how to be strong?
Was it like this in the good ol' days?

Daddy, you tell me that my generation's got it all
that we've got it so easy
and things were much harder back in your day
but Dad, if that's what you see
then the sun's in your eyes and you must be blind,
because whatever you see, it sure ain't me
because this ain't that easy,
and we both know I'm not a winner.