What You Are Lyrics & Chords By We're About 9

by Brian Gundersdorf
Featuring Kristen Jones on cello

We were young and we didn't know
What we wanted to be when we got old
I liked to build stuff. I worked with my Dad
You smiled when you told me that I should do that

We got to high school, you were the girl
That they wanted to look like, you were the pearl
And I was the oyster, we were old friends
getting coffee together, when you had a free weekend

it was hard, but you still kept up with me then somehow
I've tried and I'm sorry, but I can't keep up with you now

We were young and we didn't know
what we wanted to be when we got old
I told you to go be a star
Now I blame myself, and that's what you are

First I took a job keeping worksites clean
Then I built my first house when I was nineteen
You met a director who said you were good
and paid for your ticket to Hollywood

I saw the movies and I had to admit
There was something about you that I didn't get
Back when we were both young and we didn't know
We wanted to be when we got old

And I know it was hard, and you still kept up with me then somehow
But I've tried and I'm sorry, but I can't keep up with you now

We were young and we didn't know
what we wanted to be when we got old
I told you to go be a star
Now I blame myself, and that's what you are

You're the mug shot on the cover of star
drunk belligerent tirades, naked in cars
flying off of the highway at 50 degrees
your hands on the airbag
Saved by the trees
(Action, cut, fortune, star
drunk belligerent tirades, naked in cars
radio playing “You Drive Me Crazy”
your hands on the airbag)

Bracing yourself for the media hit
is like quitting cold turkey, and that's what you did
In a cell in the suburbs, reading their letters
They love you, they hate you, they hope you get better

We were young and we didn't know
what we wanted to be when we got old
I shrugged when I told you to go he a star
Now I blame myself, and that's what you are.