We were sitting 'round the table
At the Tuesday poker game,
Solvin' all the problems of the world
Tryin' to draw an inside straight
And Jimmy posed the question
as he played a pair of Kings,
"If you could be anyone in this whole world,
Who would you be?"
"Would you be Elvis, shaking up Memphis
Making all the young girls scream?
Would you make a speech that would change the world
Like Martin Luther King?
Go down in history like Abe Lincoln
'Cause you set a country free?
If you could be anyone in this whole world,
Tell me who would you be?"
Hank said, "I'd be a Cowboy,
Someone like John Wayne."
Donny said, "Hey Pilgrim,
Blow that cigar smoke the other way."
Said he'd make a million dollars
Pitchin' in the Major Leagues.
Then he stared straight into Paul's bloodshot eyes,
And said, "Who would you be?"
"Would you be John Lennon? Can you imagine
Giving hope with just a song.
Would you be the Babe, pointin' that bat
Saying this one's goin' long?
Maybe Moses, partin' the waters
Saying Children follow me.
If you could be anyone in this whole world,
Tell me who would you be?"
I knew those boys
Would roll their eyes
when they heard what I had to say.
But I shuffled the cards
And said, "Deuce's wild."
And I told them anyways.
"I'd be a father who had all the answers
To every question my kids had.
I'd earn every word on that coffee cup
That said world's greatest dad.
Be a perfect husband to that woman,
Who means everything to me.
If I could be anyone in this whole world
That's who I'd be."