You Had To Be There Written by Casey Beathard & Kenneth Wright Recorded by Tim McGraw Intro.: | (D) | (Bm) | (A) | (Bm) / / (A) | (D)He sat down, picked up the phone and said, (Bm)"Boy, I'm your old man" He (A/C#)touched the glass between the two, as (Bm)if to shake his hand (A) The (D)boy, he didn't budge, not even (Bm)so much as a blink The (A/C#)man said, "Oh, come on, better late than (Bm)never, don't ya think" (A) He said, "I (D)read it in the paper, can't be-(Bm)lieve you're 21 I can't be-(A/C#)lieve some son of mine could do the (Bm)things I hear you've done" (A) He went (D)on like some big hero, "Who flew (Bm)in to save the day" And the (A/C#)boy said, "If you're here to steer me (Bm)right, man, its too late" (A) (Chorus) You had to (D)be there, and I'm (A/C#)talkin' from day one That's the (Bm)only time a (A)man should talk through (G)glass to his new (A)son And you'd have to (D)go back, and teach me (A/C#)how when I was nine 'Cause my (Bm)mama couldn't (A)throw a ball even (G)if she had the (A)time I should have been (Em)learnin' how to fish, instead of (F#m)learnin' how to smoke I bet if (G)you'd of whoopped my tail, I'd never thought (F#m) it was a joke He said some-(Em)times the will for doin' wrong is (F#m)way too strong for any ma-(A)ma's prayers You had to (D)be there (G/B) The (D)man said, "Boy I'm sorry that you (Bm)hate me like you do" The (A/C#)boy said, "Dry it up, man, we ain't (Bm)makin' this about you (A) It's about a (D)teenage girl against the world, who was (Bm)left there high and dry About a (A/C#)kid who might have stood a whole lot (Bm)better shot at life" (A) (Chorus) But you had to (D)be there, and I'm (A/C#)talkin' from day one That's the (Bm)only time a (A)man should talk through (G)glass to his new (A)son And you'd have to (D)go back, and teach me (A/C#)how when I was nine 'Cause my (Bm)mama couldn't (A)throw a ball even (G)if she had the (A)time I should have been (Em)learnin' how to fish, instead of (F#m)learnin' how to smoke I bet if (G)you'd of whoopped my tail, I'd never thought (F#m) it was a joke He said some-(Em)times the will for doin' wrong is (F#m)way too strong for any ma-(A)ma's prayers You had to (D)be there (G/B) Be-(D)fore the boy hung up the phone, he said, (Bm)"They say me I'm out of time" And it (A/C#)hit the man, right there and then, "My (Bm)god, son, so am I" --- (D) ---