The Other Side

(album: The America - 2004)

In the town where I was born
Well, the streets were cold and black
If you'd get to the other side of town
You'd hope you never would come back

Just across that old railroad track
With the houses so big and lights so bright
My father and I'd sit with our eyes closed
And dream to be on the other side

'Cause on the other side
Nobody seems to long for anything
Hear their sweet voice laughing
Just as gentle as the angels sing

And on the other side
Nothing's borrowed and surely nothing's owed
I hope to one day find out
What it's like on the other side

My father worked from dawn
'Til the sun went down
And his hands were hard as steel

But still after 20 years of working
He could barely make enough to pay the bills
Then one night he laid us all in bed
Tucked me in and kissed my mom goodnight

Shut out the light and I thought I heard him crying
And he whispered, "I'll make it all alright."
So at a liquor store out by the interstate
He took the money and he gunned 3 rich men down

But the blue lights and badges
All were flashing before he turned the car around
And the judge said, "For this you will die son."
And my mother asked my father "Why?"

Hung his head and softly he did tell her
"So one day we might see the other side."

'Cause on the other side
Nobody seems to long for anything
Hear their sweet voice laughing
Just as gentle as the angels sing

And on the other side
Nothing's borrowed and surely nothing's owed
I hope to one day find out
What it's like on the other side

Sometimes as I lay here in bed
And the rain falls in the deep dark night
My father comes here as I'm dreaming
And I know he's on the other side