I’ve got the fellas on the line tonight
My old lady’s brothers and them boys from the Northside
Climbed the hill for a better view
In the ruins of the church there’s a burned out pew

Look over row houses over allies and tracks
Cross the rivers in the valley and the southern smoke stacks
Washington’s
Mountainside separates us from the dark night

We had every reason for believing in Jesus
But we’re fighting cause our lives are like riding on kite strings
And we each got a story but ain’t no one believes us
Got the nerve to tell us we ain’t doing the right thing

Well me and Calvin walked with our fists half cocked
Like rocks or bricks and its six o’clock
The river rats packing the vacant lot
When Tully runs up yelling your brother got shot

Well we ran like hell for four or five miles
To the scene of the crime at the base of my twin hills
And the motions routine but I can’t help crying
By the time we arrived there’s a red moon rising

Look in the eyes of a dying child
Before the blood begins to dry
Wipe the tears out from his eyes
And say we’re going to make it all right

We all drove of packing heat in the streetlights
And the law’s on the beat but we were blinded by our fires
Broke the north border to their corner at midnight
Four on the porch stepping up when they caught sight

I saw the chests of my friends broken and tattered
And when the sirens howled the killers all scattered
And my knees are so weak I can’t stand

It ain’t the chains that are weighing me down
It ain’t the lead in my legs that that brings me pain
Staying awake for days in these four walls
It’s staying alive that makes me cry each day

I see the eyes of a dying child
And the blood begins to dry
I wipe the tears out from his eyes
Whisper its going to be all right

©2006 Nicholas Hohman