When we were young
we pledged allegiance
every morning of our lives
Classroom rang with children's voices
under teachers' watchful eyes
We learned about the world around us
at our desks and at dinner time
Reminded of the starving children
Cleaned our plates with guilty minds
Stones in the road played like marbles in the dust
Till a voice called for us to make our way back home
Stones in the road
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
Stones in the road
That long hot summer with all the cities burning down
Stones in the road
Flew out from a bicycle of times
World to move from all those fires as we raced each other home
Stones in the road
Stones in the road
And now we drink our coffee on the run
Climb that ladder rung by rung
We are the daughters and sons but 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The starving children have been replaced by souls out on the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 sweet We kiss your ass
We make you hold, we doctor the receipt
Stones in the road Feel 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 and shame,
baby,
I don't know
Stones in the road