Stones In The Road

When we were young, we pledged allegiance

Every morning of our lives

The classroom rang with children's voices

Under teacher's watchful eye

We learned about the world around us

At our desks and at dinnertime

Reminded of the starving children

We cleaned our plates with guilty minds

And the stones in the road

Shone like diamonds in the dust

And then a voice called to us

To make our way back home

When I was ten, my father held me

On his shoulders above the crowd

To see a train draped in mourning

Pass slowly through our town

His widow kneeled with all their children

At the sacred burial ground

And the TV glowed that long hot summer

With all the cities burning down

And the stones in the road

Flew out beneath our bicycle tires

Worlds removed from all those fires

As we raced each other home

And now we drink our coffee on the run

We climb that ladder rung by rung

We are the daughters and the sons

And here's the line that's missing

The starving children have been replaced

By souls out on the street

We give a dollar when we pass

And hope our eyes don't meet

We pencil in, we cancel out

We crave the corner suite

We kiss your ass, we make you hold

We doctor the receipt

And the stones in the road

They fly out from beneath our wheels

Another day, another deal

Before we get back home

Stones in the road

Leave a mark from whence they came

A thousand points of light or shame

Baby, I don't know