He was a skinny kid who might as well've had a bullseye on his back,
'Cause his hand me down clothes were not the kind the rest of us kids had
He ate lunch alone most all the time so he never had much to say
And in part I felt responsible, cuz in Johnson's class one day,

I chose words I was sure would make his face turn red,
But that's not What I Wish I'd Said

Me and my little sister were pretty good buddies
But we teased each other a lot
And I thought it was pretty funny, when she couldn't get a date to the prom
And she came home and said "what the heck, I'll find somethin' else to do"
And I said "If you weren't such a pain in the neck, maybe you'd be goin' to"

She looked up and her eyes were red
And lookin' back now that's not what I Wish I'd said

What I Wish I'd said to that kid instead, is I can always use another friend
And What I Wish I'd said, if I had the chance,
Is "Do you think that your big bother could escort you to that dance?"
That's What I Wish I'd said

Now here we stand just you and me, and tempers are flarin' high
You look like you're about to leave, But before you say goodbye,

What I Wish I'd said is a whole lot less, and just held on to our happiness
Now we'd have a lot fewer problems to solve, if I'd just said nothing, nothing at all
Now that's What I Wish I'd said, That's What I Wish I'd said