My mother once told me The thicker your skin The better off you'll be when this world brings you down Well it's trying to control me And leave me without hope In the past I've been burned But I've lived and I've learned Beneath the shelter of the pouring rain In the absence of this fear and pain I will finally bid my ball and chain A fond farewell On the road that leads me to my place I will rid my heart of past disgrace I will finally bid this sluggish pace A fond farewell When I heard their reservations When I read their bitter words I shined a light upon their wisdom no matter how absurd And it broke my heard to pieces And I questioned my own beliefs My dignity was gone But it's time to move on Chorus Say goodbye to feeling sorry for myself To begging others for far too much help This is my hand, these are the cards that I've been dealt Only I can make these changes, nobody else Say goodbye to those sleepless nights Those corridors with no end in sight A driven man with these words I write I'm making peace with my soul tonight Chorus