Once Upon a Time Songtext
von Jeff Ott

Hundred years ago
When life was so slow
Everybody grew up and died in the same town

Everybody knew the business of everybody else
I know it sounds kind of funny today
But I guess it′s just a trade off between privacy
And accountability to the community
And if you wanted to date
You'd have to meet her dad, not get home late
You′d have to make a public declaration of your intention

What is your intention?
Your intention


Once upon a time long ago
We had a structure to make it less possible
For a man to play the game of love 'em and leave 'em
Once upon a time long ago
Guys were just a little more accountable
To their word and keeping it
In whole
In whole

Then came Henry Ford and we all got cars
We stopped living in our grandma′s house
We became single-generation families
We all got up and left our hometowns
We lost the accountability of my love life
Being everyone else′s business

Then came 1969
We gained the ability to recognize
That for us, relationship meant ownership of a woman
Along came some crazy radical to tell us
A woman could be a whole person
Without being defined by a man
By a man
No woman is a whole person
Without being defined by a man


Once upon a time not long ago
We destroyed the structure from which our families did grow
And divorce became what's normal for my generation
Once upon a time not long ago
We destroyed the structure from which our families did grow
And divorce became what′s normal for my generation
My generation

I think by now we know babies need a nest
And we're just trying to figure out what would be best
Because we′ve clearly outgrown everything that we've ever known
Possession doesn′t work anymore
And the kids don't do that well with divorce
Is it too much to ask to know
I was made in love and raised in love?
I was made in love and raised in love
In love

Once upon a time and that time is now
We get the difficult job of trying to figure out
How to do relationship in a way that's new
That respects the both of us

Once upon a time and that time is now
We get the difficult job of trying to figure out
How to do relationship in a way that′s new
That respects the both of us
And the little ones too

And the little ones too

So I gotta admit I only wrote this song
′Cause when I go to one, I hear it all day long
He said, he said he loved me
And why won't she just leave me alone?

If you wanna know if he′ll stick around
Just take a real good look around your hometown
Does he wanna meet your family?
Or does he wanna do your grandmother's gardening?
Young man, if you wanna build a wall around your heart
I guess constantly leaving is a good place to start

It′s much easier to stick with chickenshit
Than to admit you're in pain and deal with it
It′s much easier to stick with chickenshit
Than admit you're in pain and deal with it

Did he say it's gonna last forever?
Did he say it′s now or never?
Did he really say that you′re the only one?
Did he say "I'm always gonna love you"?
Did he say "I′m never gonna leave you"?
Did he mention he's got a girlfriend in every town?
In every town, in every town

Once upon a time and that time is now
We get the difficult job of trying to figure out
How to do relationship in a way that′s new
That respects the both of us
Once upon a time and that time is now
We get the difficult job of trying to figure out
How to do relationship in a way that's new
That respects the both of us and little ones too
And the little ones too