Age 5, just a little boy shy
Is he ready for the big surprise
He'll be playing lego in a dream
When the shadows come to life
Age 9 and he should've been fine
With a secret he's sure to keep
Two times had to tell a little lie
For the sake of him and me
Now it's over
I need closure
Hey, look what you did to me
When you were taking me home
Getting me stoned
Leave me alone
I waited for mom to comfort me
But when I opened my mouth
Don't say nothing, shhh
Age 12 and it isn't going well
Now it's 3 years to the day
Confused, but unlike you
This feeling won't go away
16 and the woman down the street
Has invited him to come inside
The first time, it didn't feel right
It'll be the last time he tries [ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/sick_puppies/howards_tale.html ]
Hey, look what you did to me
When you were taking me home
Getting me stoned
Leave me alone
I waited for mom to comfort me
But when I opened my mouth
Don't say nothings wrong
I won't say nothings wrong
I won't say, I won't say
I won't say, I won't say
I won't say, I won't say
17, all he's ever seen
Is the living in between the lies
It's kind of funny how a mind
Can keep living in denial
18 is a very strange scene
He's still playing with the past
Expelled, maybe someone could've helped
If someone had known to ask
Hey, look what you did to me
When you were taking me home
Getting me stoned
Leave me alone
I waited for mom to comfort me
But when I opened my mouth
Don't say nothing, shhh
19 and he's innocently
Parked right beside a school
He stares at a boy sitting there
And the boy stares at him too
He walks over
He needs closure
This young boy was messed with when he was five and nine. He tries different ways of getting the memory out of his head but to no end. He finally thinks the only way is to reenact what happen to him.
When you're messed with as a kid it does something to you... Whether you "deal with it" or not some things just cannot competely heal. The boy in howard's tale doesn't talk about what happened to him, and the song itself isn't descriptive; however, he does still try to put his experience behind him. Like with the woman down the street when he's 16. Unfortunately that failed attempt at erasing the painful scars of the past merely leaves him feeling frustrated and inadequate. Still unable to properly cope or even let someone else know what happened to him, his problems intensify. The song's last stanza reveals the harowing reality of what can happen when such a tortured mind is left to its own devices. Desperate for solace, the boy, now a 19 year old man, resorts to what he must see as his last possible option; re-enacting his horrible ordeal, only this time another little boy will play the victim, finally giving himself a sense of power, authority, and control.