A little girl walked out one day and said woe is me Things just aren't the way I thought they'd be So please don't make me turn 30, don't make me turn 16 If the rest of life is anything like what I've seen Cause I know that I'm a goner and I know it won't be long Cause I see on every billboard they tell me I'm all wrong They say you're taking too much time girl, you take up too much space You better stake yourself a claim before you lose that face But I see you and you're different and to me you look so free, You live your life the way you think it ought to be And your body's not a prison or a weapon or a curse You say "I'm gonna love each passing year for better or worse" for good or worse When I grow up I want to be like you, marylou When I grow up I want to be like you I want to be a wise woman and a little girl too When I grow up I want to be like marylou The little girl said they tell me, "boys will be boys, You gotta let them take the wheel and let them make the noise, You gotta let them keep believing you're underneath their thumb Cause they won't cause you so much trouble if you learn to play dumb." But I see you and you're smiling, living on your own Your paintbrush and your poems and you'll never be alone You've got work to sustain you, you've got friends to hold your hands You say "life is just as beautiful as I think I can stand" When I grow up I want to be like you, marylou When I grow up I want to be like you I want to do the things that people just don't do When I grow up I want to be like marylou A little girl said well tell me, can this be, Can the world be asking so much of me? To give up my own body, my dreams and my name, To give my hands to carrying the whole world's shame? But you're not your father's keeper, you're not your mother's pain, You're not your brother's anger or your sister's rain, You're not your lover's chew toy and you're not the world's excuse, You say "my life just got so beautiful the day I turned it loose" When I grow up I want to be like you, marylou When I grow up I want to be like you I want to be a wise wise woman, want to be a little girl too When I grow up I want to be like marylou