By the time you read this...

I will have faded and frayed

Gone and decayed

Like pencil on paper

I've been erased


By the time that you read this

You may be afraid

Of what they may say

But don't be ashamed


By the time that you read this

I know you'll be grown

I know you'll be changed

Yet...

Deep down

I know you're the same


By the time that you read this

I'll have hoped and have prayed...

That you became your own person

Not just a slave


By the time that you read this

I hope you'll be proud...

Of the life that you’ve made


Now that you're reading this

I'd just like to help you remember

I'd just like to help us and convey

We had a dream once

The world was something we'd change

But now it's just you

I've been away

Now...

It's just you


By the time that you read this...

Ten years have gone by

Since I promised I'd stay