Would you have been a little genius in love with math?
Would you have played in your school clothes and made me mad?
Would you have been a little rapper like your poppa The Piper?
Would you have made me quit smokin' by finding one of my lighters?

I wonder about your skin tone and shape of your nose?
And the way you would have laughed and talked fast or slow?
Think about it every year, so I picked up a pen
Happy birthday, love you whoever you would've been
Happy birthday

All I thought was a dream, make a wish
Was as real as it seemed, happy birthday
All I thought was a dream, make a wish
Was as real as it seemed, I made a mistake

I've got a million excuses to why you died
And other people got their own reasons for homicide
Who's to say it would've worked and who's to say it wouldn't have?
I was young and strugglin' but old enough to be your dad

The fear of being a father has never disappeared
Pondering frequently while I'm sippin' on my beer
My vision of a family was artificial and fake
So when it came time to create I made a mistake

Now you've got a little brother, maybe he's really you?
Maybe you really forgave us knowin' we was confused?
Maybe every time that he smiles it's you proudly
Knowin' that your father's doin' the right thing now?

I never tell a woman what to do with her body
But if she don't love children then we can't party
Think about it every year, so I picked up a pen
Happy birthday, love you whoever you would've been
Happy birthday

All I thought was a dream, make a wish
Was as real as it seemed, happy birthday
All I thought was a dream, yeah, make a wish
Was as real as it seemed, I made a mistake

And from the heavens to the womb to the heavens again
From the endin' to the endin', never got to begin
Maybe one day we could meet face to face?
In a place without time and space, happy birthday

From the heavens to the womb to the heavens again
From the endin' to the endin', never got to begin
Maybe one day we could meet face to face
In a place without time and space, happy birthday

All I thought was a dream, make a wish
Was as real as it seemed, happy birthday
All I thought was a dream, make a wish
Was as real as it seemed, I made a mistake