Magic Mirror

(album: Carney - 1972)

I'm standing by the highway
Suitcase by my side
There's no place I want to go
I just thought I'd catch a ride

Many people look my way
And many pass me by
In moments of reflection
I wonder why

To the thieves I am a bandit
The mothers think I'm a son
To the preachers I'm a sinner
Lord I'm not the only one

To the sad ones I'm unhappy
To the losers I'm a fool
To the students I'm a teacher
With the teachers I'm in school

To the hobos I'm imprisoned by everything I own
To the soldier I'm just someone else who's dying to go home
The general sees a number, a politician's tool
To my friends I'm just an equal in this whirlpool

Magic mirror won't you tell me please
Do I find myself in anyone I see?
Magic mirror if we only could
Try to see ourselves as others would

To policeman I'm suspicious it's in the way I look
I'm just another character to fingerprint and book
To the censors I'm pornography with no redeeming grace
To the hooker I'm a customer without a face

The sellers think I'm merchandise, they'll have me for a song
The left ones think I'm right,
The right ones think I'm wrong
And many people look my way
And many pass me by
And in my quiet reflection I wonder why

Magic mirror won't you tell me please
Do I see myself in anyone I meet?
Magic mirror if we only could
Try to see ourselves as others would