He came home from work at 3 AM She was waiting in the kitchen They sat down at the table and talked 'til 4 Tonight like so many nights before And a fourteen-hour night's work in the mill Feels like pushing boulders slowly up a hill He say I don't know why But I know sometimes you cry I know it doesn't look like what you pictured in your mind But I have loved you all this time I wish that I could give you a typical life She waited up for him 'til 3 o'clock She washed the clothes, she watched TV, she watched the clock 'Cause it's better than just lying there alone And listening to the silence in the hallways of a dark and empty home This working days with nights at home gets long And she can't shake a feeling now that something's going wrong She says I don't know why But I will admit sometimes I cry No, it doesn't look like what I pictured in my mind But I have loved you all this time I wouldn't trade it all for a typical life We climb this ladder but it's never everything it seems We've been reaching for our future 'til we've forgotten what that means We'll build it on the wreckage of these long-forgotten dreams From when we were young and stupid From when we were just sixteen She says I don't know why But I will admit sometimes I cry And, no, it doesn't look like what I pictured in my mind But I have loved you all this time I've loved you all this time And one day you're gonna find There ain't no such thing at all as a typical life She lay down next to him in bed With a million thoughts just pounding in her head