Family Tree

Lyrics & Info	Tabs	Performances (2)

Mama, I see your face now in the mirror  It's getting clearer  Daddy, all those things I said I wouldn't do  I've been drawn to 'cause I looked up to you  And I've loved you through this tangled legacy  Tracing the twisted roots of our family tree I stayed strong like you did  I moved on like you did  And I wound up tough as stone like you did  If I don't learn to bend I know I'm going to break  Like you did Lover, I must forgive you  I confused you with what I couldn't see inside of me  Dark things pulling, not evolving  It made a puppet out of me  And you came with your own history  Both caught in the branches of our family tree I stayed strong like you did  I moved on like you did  And I wound up all alone like you did  If I don't learn to bend, I know I'm gonna break just like you did I love you but I need to look at who we've been  Take the fruit but choose the seeds I scatter in the wind  That's the job of the kid: to do better than our parents did So I'll stay strong like you did  And I'll move on like you did  But I won't hide from the truth like you did  I'm learning to bend so I won't break  And you can bet I'll teach my child that love will always find a way just like you did

Family Tree Written by Jewel, Lisa Carver Albums Picking Up the Pieces, 2015 Length 3:36 “In addition to the autobiographical lyrics, this is really about the obligation we have as children to examine where we come from and where we want to be. It's directly conveyed in the bridge line that says, ‘Take the fruit but choose the seeds I scatter in the wind / That’s the job of the kid to do better than our parents did.’ No matter whose childhood it is – even the best of childhoods – there are traits we might want to weed out and traits that we really want to continue. And to try and do that thoughtfully I think leads to a more fulfilled life.” — Picking Up the Pieces Press Release