The End of the Innocence

By Don Henley

Remember when the days were long

And rolled beneath a deep blue sky

Didn’t have a care in the world

With mommy and daddy standing by

But "happily ever after" fails

And we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales

The lawyers dwell on small details

Since daddy had to fly

But I know a place where we can go

That’s still untouched by men

We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by

And the tall grass waves in the wind

You can lay your head back on the ground

And let your hair fall all around me

Offer up your best defense

But this is the end

This is the end of the innocence

O’ beautiful, for spacious skies

But now those skies are threatening

They’re beating plowshares into swords

For this tired old man that we elected king

Armchair warriors often fail

And we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales

The lawyers clean up all details

Since daddy had to lie

But I know a place where we can go

And wash away this sin

We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by

And the tall grass waves in the wind

Just lay your head back on the ground

And let your hair spill all around me

Offer up your best defense

But this is the end

This is the end of the innocence

Who knows how long this will last

Now we’ve come so far, so fast

But somewhere back there in the dust

That same small town in each of us

I need to remember this

So baby give me just one kiss

And let me take a long last look

Before we say goodbye

Just lay your head back on the ground

And let your hair fall all around me

Offer up your best defense

But this is the end

This is the end of the innocence