When I was a girl, I wished I was a boy
I had a dog, I wished it was a horse
We lived by the freeway, I thought it was the ocean,
Sounded like a seashell in my sleep in the night
I would go riding and I would go sailing
All the while bouncing a ball at the wall
And I was a gondolier, pushing through Venice
I was a tour guide of my own heart’s desires
Over there I’m a painter, over there I’m a builder,
Over there I’m a cab driver who knows every street
But I can’t find the bridge, or is it a ferry
Some way to cross over, some way to connect
No man is an island, but most of us choose one
There are islands for bakers and bankers and thieves.
And you row & row & row your boat on down the baby river
Row it oh so gently, as though life were but a dream
For some reason my dreams are all about water
It replaces the concrete, I can breathe it like air
Perhaps in a past life, I was a great swimmer
Or maybe in this life, I’m destined to drown
I’m destined to choose. So it’s been foretold
Sure enough, as I’ve chosen, my destiny is unfolding
Row & row & row your boat on down the baby river
Row it oh so gently, as though life were but a dream
But oh, I know, that dreaming is not living
So many lives there are to land upon,
The dreams just flow between
When I am an old man, I’ll wish I was a girl
I’ll wish I had parents. I’m sure that it’s true
I will want a tour then of my own heart’s desires
So many, so varied, all softened with time
No man is an island, but most of us choose one
There are islands for hustlers and mothers and kings
But the fearless explorers, they find secret passageways
Through melting obstacles. They move up and downstream
Saying look out for the rocks. Lean into the wind.
Look into your heart. Look out for your friends.
Hold fast to the oars. Maybe wait for the full moon.
Look up at the sky. Look down at your hands.
And row & row & row your boat on down the baby river
Row it oh so gently as though life were but a dream
But you and I know that dreaming is not living
So many dreams each night to lie upon,
And one life between the dreams

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