He found a treasure That his heart could hold A simple pleasure Worth more than gold A secret remedy A curiosity It was his and his alone But soon he wondered How to make it stay With grown up thunder And a childlike grace He cried out, "Mama, help me please" She dropped down to her knees And she could feel him going under And she said, "Baby, let go 'Cause there's some things you don't know You've got a gift right in front of your face But you're hanging on You're holding on To a penny in a priceless vase" Well, I'm no better And it's plain to see Chained and fettered To a lesser me Visions of a grand design Running 'cross my mind But remain just out of reach Taking chances And I squander time Dodging glances From this heart of mine She knows I take the easy way Same as yesterday Ignoring lessons I could teach You would think I don't know That we reap what we sow And there's a danger in running in place Feels like I'm hanging on Holding on To a penny in a priceless vase Learning again Turning the pages of a story Without an end Making amends Seeing the life that's waiting for me To comprehend What You could send Around the bend One thing's clear to me Though we sacrifice Nothing comes for free We must pay the price Our hopes and dreams could truly be Much more than fantasy But instead we roll the dice We don the joker's hat And we play the fool We take the handicap And we break the rules Just one more trip around the sun Trynna have some fun But we end up feeling used But if we learn to let go Of the pleasures we know We'll find the treasure that can't be replaced Instead of hanging on Holding on To a penny in priceless vase To a penny in priceless vase To a penny in priceless vase