The Other Side

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