The Rise and Fall of Adolescence

They tell you when you not to grow up so fast What they don’t tell you is why So you dress up and hold a cigarette like a grown up They tell you not to do that but they don’t tell you why They don’t tell you about paying rent that’ll make you want to smoke in the first place They don’t tell you about shattered hearts that hurt more than a boo boo They tell you to go to school, do well in school; your future depends on school What they don’t tell you is about the student loan debt So you get good grades because school will make your dreams come true It’s only when you are a grown up that you realize you never wanted to grow up in the first place You don’t want to dress up, and the cigarettes cut into your grocery budget You grow up, and you don’t want to be a grown up Because it isn’t all about playing dress up and holding a cigarette the right way It’s responsibility you don’t think you’re ready for It’s complications you never thought you’d experience Your identity becomes a blurred line And you wonder why you can’t be in the sandbox again Making little cities of your own Making a world of your own That doesn’t have rent, or debt, or cigarettes