The story behind this song
Eighteen, and he fills the doorframe he used to be measured against — the pencil marks stop at fourteen because he outgrew the ritual before anyone was ready to quit it. The laundry still shows up folded, the cereal still vanishes by the box, and somewhere between last summer and this one the handshake got firm and the plans got real.
He stood up for the small kid; they heard it secondhand. There's a goodness in him no book put there. The world is about to find out what they've always known. For the parent at the door of his adulthood — proud, a little scared, hoping the important things already sank into his bones, and just asking him to remember where the key is.
Lyrics
'Cause you outgrew the door
Your handshake's firm, your plans got real this year
You eat us out of house and home and make us laugh too hard
And eighteen years went by like one long summer
I hope it's in your bones by now
Every door is yours to open, every no is yours to test
We did our part, the rest is yours to make it
Eighteen, the world is yours
Just remember where the key is — you can always come home
You stood up for the small kid — heard it secondhand
There's a goodness in you, boy, you didn't get from any book
And the world's about to find out what we know
I hope it's in your bones by now
Every door is yours to open, every no is yours to test
We did our part, the rest is yours to make it
Eighteen, the world is yours
Just remember where the key is — you can always come home
Watching somebody grow past the marks
And you'll get it — why I'm standing here
Smiling with something in my eye
Every door is yours to open, every no is yours to test
We did our part, the rest is yours to make it
Eighteen, the world is yours
Just remember where the key is — you can always come home
Go make it yours
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