If

If I had been a good girl when I was young
He wouldn't have had to do the things that were done
And my life would have been a happy one

If I had gone south instead of north
To L.A. or San Diego (oh hell, why not say Tijuana)
Would things have turned out any differently?

If I could gather back in all those lost years
Take out the pain and the hunger and the misery
Would I then be a better person than the one I have become?

If I had died that bloody day and gone on to what lies beyond
And not wandered my bleak and sorrowful path
Would the world be any better off? or any worse?

If I could take back just one thing
Rip it screaming and fighting out of my dark and gloomy life
I would take out the day, dad, that you went to work
And came home a week later
In a box