From the recording Living in the Past Lane
A political and social reflection on the distance between the words we speak and the lives we actually lead. We learn the right phrases, make promises and talk about justice and compassion, but too often our actions tell another story. Meanwhile, power remains tied to money and guns, leaving ordinary people frustrated, wounded and unheard. At the heart of the song is the recognition that beneath society’s rage there is often something deeper—hurt, disappointment and despair—captured in one of its defining lines: “Anger is the face of pain.” Words are easy to remember; living by them is much harder.
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
People say we're moving forward
And I don't agree with them
I say time's moving backwards
It's the 1960s again [electric bass enters]
You know I wish well it weren't the case
But there's bloodshed in our lives
A .45 controls the race
And George Bernard Shaw was right
[Chorus]
Poems are only memorized
Songs are only sung
We never seem to realize
Just the things we could become
[Verse 2]
Five years of college have taught me that
Love is an idealistic dream
Money and gunpowder are where it's at
And that is reality, yeah
People can talk from town to town
No one's really understood
We watch the circle go round and round
And never learn what we could
[Chorus]
Poems are only memorized
Songs are only sung
We never seem to realize
Just the things we could become
[Verse 3]
The world goes on turning
A friend is lost through the gain
Love is found through learning
And anger's the face of pain
To believe in us would be so ideal
But we're too busy looking for blame
We reason how we feel
So neither of us will ever change
[Chorus]
Poems are only memorized
Songs are only sung
We never seem to realize
Just the things we could become
[Chorus]
Poems are only memorized
Songs are only sung
We never seem to realize
Just the things we could become