Walk in ’Til You’re Knee High

[Verse 1]
She awaited eagerly in the backseat
As the car pulled up to the lot
You could see that her hopes and expectations were higher than they had ever been
Her mother took her down to the water's edge
By the hand, as all the parents of the rest of the children playing and laughing
Without any preconceived knowledge of how precious their ignorance really is
She quickly became bored of building sand castles and digging for treasure
She was here, it was her day
She was going to play in the water for the very first time
It was early, she was scared
She doubtfully dragged herself to another boy who was sitting in the water
So that the waves barely went over his feet
He was digging for sand crabs, she was intrigued
As she tried to say "Hi"
She tripped and spilt his bucket of beach critters
And the next wave swept them back into the sea
She turned red and started to walk away
When he said "hey, aren't you going to help me refill this bucket?"
Her eyes opened wider than when she had first arrived
She turned back around and sat next to him
They had the same size shoes, it was a beautiful day

[Chorus]
Would you walk in past being knee high to save me from myself? Give a little then take it back
Bend forward then retract
Give a little then take it back
Bend forward then retract

[Verse 2]
Their parents saw what good friends the two had become
They were nice enough to bring them back to that very same spot
Every week all summer, and for summers after that
The two eventually became old enough to walk there on their own
When the boy's family moved away, he would still return every summer
She had become the popular girl over the last school year
She had new friends now
Their encounters became less personal, he still enjoys her scent
One day she kissed him while he had snuck her away for a minute
They were in the water, chest high
She blushed, just like that first day
Her name was called from a car pulling up
More friends, she kissed him once more on the cheek and got in the car
She didn't tell him it was her birthday, happy birthday baby

[Chorus]
Would you walk in past being knee high to save me from myself? Would you walk in past being knee high to save me from myself? Give a little then take it back
Bend forward then retract
Give a little then take it back
Bend forward then retract

[Verse 3]
Many years later, after the two let distance do its work
She came back one morning with her new fiancé
She begged for him to go swimming with her
He'd rather sit on the beach. She ventures out into the water. Trying to get his attention, she fails to see the wave behind her. She's overcome and swept back
No one realizes she is drowning except for the lifeguard
Just as she is about to give up struggling, she is pulled out of the water
She wipes her eyes back to vision as she is being led back to the beach
She can begin to see and hear all the people panicking over what had just happened
She begins to thank the lifeguard as her fiancé grabs her and holds her close saying things like
"thank god you're ok" and things of that sort
Time later, in her few last years, she returns to the beach one last time
It was abandoned but she wasn't known for following rules
She remembered that day she almost drowned
She noticed the door to the old lifeguard locker was open
Curious to see if she could find any record of who had worked that day, she peeked in
It seemed that there had only been one lifeguard on post every summer
But the name was so faded it couldn't be read
She was about to leave, when she noticed a bucket, that bucket
The lifeguard was that boy
The bucket was nearly half full of papers
Not papers, but pictures
Pictures of he and her
One for every summer since the first, until the day they kissed. Under the pictures was a card, a birthday card
It read "We were never great swimmers, but I'll always jump in to save you."

[Outro]
Would you walk in past being knee high to save me from myself? Would you walk in past being knee high to save me from myself?