Once we were children.

Once we were children

We liked to have a mum to kiss it better

Why was the bed damp in the morning?

We want to be a little bit bigger

Wanted to be that bit taller, that's all!

To stop wearing shorts, having platts

Wearing long skirts, trousers and all that

We were allowed to play out, until it was dark

Then we walked to school all on our own!

We sneaked things we we're never allowed to eat

We thought to be clever was every thing

Wanted mum and dad to always care

Never thought what we did frightened them

Then we started to do more things on our own

Feeling more grown up every day

Going to the movies on our own

Seeing girls and boys in a different ways

Though we were still just children in lots of ways

Then our bodies they begin to feel sort of strange

And the child started to fade, fade completely away

The change to adult was on its way

We never noticed when the whole thing started

Never knew when the child departed

It’s gone away now, and now we know

We can't go back, we don't need to grow

Though sometimes we'd like to dream again

To be children again and have the childhood things

In some ways I think it would be good, good for a day

Then I remember how I wanted to be tall

And how I got here and that's about all

I am past it now and it’s all right

Now I don't need a light at night

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Wouldn’t it be nice to think like a child

Just once in a while,

To remember the way, we used to play at life,

It wasn’t real of course, now, well it’s real of course

Always remember how to play, it'll get you through every day

Stephen. W.T. Read (2010)