Just a cracker boy from a flatland farm in sunny Florida
I'd smile all year from ear to ear
Before I knew how things really were
Then I started growing older and getting out on my own
And reality slowly slapped my face about things I had never known

Oooo, I wish I had never learned I used to live life with such ease
I wish I had never learned  those tricks up all those sleeves
I may be a little bit smarter but i sure do believe
Things were a whole lot better when I was a little naive

As a teenager in the sixties I believed in love and peace
Seemed like the sole solution 'til we all got to extreme
Then the seventies so uncertain as the 'Me' generation grew
Now these crazy eighties lead us in to the nineties so confused

Oooo, I wish I had never learned I used to live life with such ease
I wish I had never learned  those tricks up all those sleeves
I may be a little bit smarter but i sure do believe
Things were a whole lot better when I was a little naive

And we'd go sailing our boats out on the pond
There was never any reason for alarm
I may be a little bit smarter but i sure do believe
Things were a whole lot better when I was a little naive, naive
I may be a little bit smarter but i sure do believe
Things were a whole lot better when I was a little naive