I was at that smart ass time of my life   I?d pick a fight just to pick a fight   He said black, I said white   If he took one side I took the other side      Dinner table we sat around was   More like a battleground   Where I lost more times than I won   Wouldn?t learn till later on      He was always preachin' about his past   I just kept screamin?, "Come on, dad"      That was 20 years ago, you don?t know me at all   Trying to talk to you is like talking to a wall   Yea, you gave me my life but it's my life to live   And maybe I don?t wanna live it like you did   20 years ago      He was built from blue collar sweat and blood   Square jaw and a crew cut, a purple heart, a Viet vet   And he?d tell you every chance he?d get   Always runnin? down my rock & roll      My friends, my hair and my clothes   Till it all got out of control   And one night it finally came to blows   That was just enough to get me gone   I couldn?t wait to prove him wrong      20 years ago I struck out on my own   He couldn?t tell me nothin'   I didn?t already know   Yea I was on my way      So what the hell did I care   With my old man and his gray hair   Thought about the road I chose   20 years ago      I left as fast as the leaves fell that autumn   I never looked back and I never once called him   But every time I talked to Momma   I wondered if he was there or if he even cared      I figured I walked out on him and the course of our love   Had run, Momma said, "No, no, you listen to me, Son   He?s a stubborn man and he won?t give in   He believes what he believes and you?re just like him"      And I could tell by her voice   There was something wrong   She broke down and said   "He ain?t got long"      So I caught the next plane home   Thought about all the years gone   And how my pride had let so much time go by   Ran up those stairs and I stood by his bed and cried      20 years ago I thought I knew it all   But tryin' to talk to me is like talking to a wall   Yea, thought I was a man but actin? like I did   But all I want right now is just to be your kid      And just before my dad gave up the ghost   He took my hand and said, "Son, let it go   That was 20 years ago, 20 years ago"