Becoming Something Other

[Verse 1]
I got a call, I got a phone call from my mother
'Your dad is changing, he is becoming something other
And you may not recognize him when you come
And he may realize it's you
There's part of him that is completely numb'

[Verse 2]
He'd not been well, his eyes and legs were almost useless
He'd been depressive, he hated looking so damn foolish
And the CAT-scan showed his brain was losing mass
And he didn't know each morning
Where he was, or how he came to this impasse

[Verse 3]
He took the phone, his voice was querulous and distant
I heard and old man, and I knew it in an instant
And he told me how it was to be so blind
And he told me how it was to know
Precisely how it felt to lose his mind

[Verse 4]
I asked me dad, how much his vision was impaired
He said he sees things, but that the things he sees were things that are not there
Then he paused and quietly spoke this words that chilled
'I have my own small thoughts about that'
And I felt the air around me grow quite still

[Bridge]
For my dad was telling me that he was dying
He was telling me in such a gentle way
And I couldn't stop myself from softly crying
As he formed the mindless words the had their say

[Refrain]
I got a call, I got a phone call from my mother
Your dad is changing, he is becoming something other