Thanks, dad, for letting me sing this to you with so many witnesses the night before. You throw a great party

I walk right by your office
It used to be my room
Mom moved out the furniture
When I went off to school

You filled it floor to ceiling
With all the things you've done
Letters from the President
Medallions that you won

And papers filled with numbers
Photographs of men
Your colleagues in their business suits
With hard hats on their heads

You took us down a mine once
We turned off all the lights
In that heart of darkness
Could we make everything all right?

You were a miner all your life
But I never made you mine
I never really took the time
To know the man inside
Soon I'll be walking down the aisle
And I want you by my side
Don't you think it's time
I finally tried to get inside the man?

So I'm drawn back to your office
To dig up more on you
Heavy rocks in bookcases--
Are they my only clue?

You traveled far to get them
You mined them from the land
You'd think that they were gold
The way you laid them in my hands

Chorus
Will I ever tell you just how
Dark the dark has been?
Do I have the courage
To let so much love in?

Now I'm sitting in your office
I'm trying out your chair
The room takes on new meaning
When I look at it from here

I hope that you don't mind
But I'm singing you a song
You'd think that it was gold
The way it's taken me so long

I've been a miner all my life
With my head stuck underground
But now I've grown, I want to know you
While you're still around