Headin' out on some uncharted path
You soon turn back
It happens time and time again
You never seem to reach the end
Someone's out there on the street tonight
When things go wrong
He'll guarantee to make them right
If the price is right
Every time I look you're fallin' fallin'
Beaten by the wind
Every time I turn around he's there again
It's like a full force gale
An American storm
You're buried far beneath a mountain of cole
And you never get warm
It's like a wall of mirrors
You charge `em at full speed
You cover up - you hear the shattering glass
But you never bleed
You never feel the need
Everybody casts a certain light
A special gift
It's theirs to use for wrong or right
When you face the night
More and more we choose the easy way
We take no risks
We figure out which games to play
And how to make 'em pay
Suddenly the pressure's fallin' fallin'
Skies have all turned grey
Suddenly the storm is heading straight your way
It's like a full force gale
Atop a mountain of cold
You tell your story again and again
And it never gets old
It's like a wall of mirrors
You charge 'em at full speed
You cover up - you hear the shattering glass
But you never bleed
You face a full force gale
An American storm
You're buried beneath a mountain of cold
And you never get warm - no you never get warm
You face a wall of mirrors
You charge 'em at full speed
You cover up - you hear the shattering glass
But you never bleed
You never feel the need
Stood there boldly
Sweatin' in the sun
Felt like a million
Felt like number one
The height of summer
I'd never felt that strong
Like a rock
I was eighteen
Didn't have a care
Working for peanuts
Not a dime to spare
But I was lean and
Solid everywhere
Like a rock
My hands were steady
My eyes were clear and bright
My walk had purpose
My steps were quick and light
And I held firmly
To what I felt was right
Like a rock
Like a rock, I was strong as I could be
Like a rock, nothin' ever got to me
Like a rock, I was something to see
Like a rock
And I stood arrow straight
Unencumbered by the weight
Of all these hustlers and their schemes
I stood proud, I stood tall
High above it all
I still believed in my dreams
Twenty years now
Where'd they go?
Twenty years
I don't know
I sit and I wonder sometimes
Where they've gone
And sometimes late at night
When I'm bathed in the firelight
The moon comes callin' a ghostly white
And I recall
I recall
Like a rock, standin' arrow straight
Like a rock, chargin' from the gate
Like a rock, carryin' the weight
Like a rock
Like a rock, the sun upon my skin
Like a rock, hard against the wind
Like a rock, I see myself again
Like a rock
They saw the lights on the horizon
Out of the seas it came shinin'
The buildings so high
They seemed to touch the sky
Miami, oh Miami
They felt the warm breezes blowing
From off the strange new ocean
They reached the end safe
It was a new day
Miami, oh Miami
Oh, it must've seemed
Something from a dream
Shinin' through the night
All those city lights
Staring at the shore
Hungry, tired and worn
Could it really be
Were they really free
And so they came
A hundred thousand
To find a way of life
They could believe in
Far away from home
With nothing of their own
To Miami, oh Miami
By the light of the moon
To a 50's tune
He pledged his love to her
A girl so rare
A girl so fair
The girl for him for sure
He could see himself getting up every mornin'
For the rest of his life
Just to look in those eyes so blue
It was all he ever wanted to do
She was all he'd ever need to see him through
They were still in their teens
When he gave her the ring
They were married late one May
And they moved into a little house
On the far end of town
Out by the big highway
And all through the days
And all through the nights
The cars and trucks rolled on by
And he slept through it all just fine
Every night he slept just fine
Sometimes she'd stare at the stars out the window
Sometimes she'd walk 'neath the moon
Sometimes she'd sit there just watching him sleeping
Hoping the dawn would come soon
She'd done well in school
She'd followed the rules
And she'd always stood out from the rest
She'd go off to college
And work her way through
Then move to some city out west
She had it all planned
She'd have her career
She'd have all of the things that she'd always lacked
She'd wake up one morning all packed
And leave here and never look back
Most of her friends thought it soon would be over
Not many thought it would last
Most seemed to think they were all wrong for each other
And soon it would pass - soon it would pass
Now twenty years have gone
And her kids have moved on
And she's still on the far end of town
Her youngest - she's livin' somewhere in L.A.
And her oldest - he works on a nearby farm
Her husband comes home
And they talk over supper
He's usually the first to turn in
Another day comes to an end
Another day just ends
And sometimes in the wee hours when the traffic dies down
She'll hear the sound of some bird on the wing
And she'll look out the window and she'll look at his picture
But not at the ring - not at the ring
She never looks at the ring
Saw you walkin' on a backstreet honey
Tryin' to slip away
Did you find someone to take your money
And did it make your day
Take a lesson from someone who's been there
There are lots of roads that lead you nowhere
I can see it in your blank stare baby
Someone's done you in
Everybody hits the hard truth some time
It's your time again
So you're lonesome and the night's approachin'
Honey this is where the tough get goin'
Welcome to the tightrope
Between memory and pain
Welcome to the tightrope
Between the freedom and the chain
Welcome to the tightrope
Stretched high above the street
Welcome to the tightrope
It's right beneath your feet
Once you learn to balance truth and sorrow
You can worry about the rest tomorrow
Up there on the tightrope
Oh it's a tightrope
You're walkin' on a tightrope
Just about the time I think I've had it
Everything I've planned has fallen through
Just about the time the whole thing's crumblin' in
And I can't hold back no matter what I do
And just about the time I feel like screamin'
And findin' me a wall to punch right through
I look up and I just can't help smilin'
It's you
You're the only reason I'm still here, girl
You're the only one who keeps me sane
Somethin' 'bout the way you've learned to calm me down
And see me through the anger and the pain
And just about the time I'm standin' on the edge
And searchin' for a light to see me through
I look up and I can see it shinin'
It's you
I don't really claim to understand it
I just know the way you make me feel
No one has to tell me I'm a lucky man
No one has to tell me that it's real
And just about the time I think I've lost it
I'm lookin' for a hole to crawl into
I look up and I just can't believe it
It's you
It's you
I look up
And honey, it's you
Gettin' me through
Keepin' it new
Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they're red, white, and blue
And when the band plays hail to the chief
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain't me
It ain't me
I ain't no senator's son, son, son
It ain't me
It ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one, no
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves now
And when the tax man comes to the door
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes
It ain't me
It ain't me
I ain't no millionaire's son, son, son
It ain't me
It ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one, no, no
Some folks inherit star-spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war
And when you ask `em how much should we give
Ooh, they only answer more, more, more, more
It ain't me
It ain't me
I ain't no military son, son, son
It ain't me
It ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one
It ain't me
It ain't me
I ain't no fortunate one, one, one
It ain't me
It ain't me
I ain't no fortunate son, son, son