Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
When we were young we pledged allegiance
Every morning of our lives
The classroom rang with children's voices
Under teacher's watchful eye
We learned about the world around us
At our desks and at dinner time
Reminded of the starving children
We cleaned our plates with guilty minds
And the stones in the road
Shone like diamonds in the dust
And then a voice called to us
To make our way back home
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
And the TV glowed that long hot summer
With all the cities burning down
And the stones in the road
Flew out beneath our bicycle tires
Worlds removed from all those fires
As we raced each other home
And now we drink our coffee on the run
We climb that ladder rung by rung
We are the daughters and the sons
And 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The starving children have been replaced
By souls out on the street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 suite
We kiss your ass, we make you hold
We doctor the receipt
And the stones in the road
They fly out from beneath our wheels
Another day, another deal
Before we get back home
Stones in the road
Leave a mark whence they came
A thousands points of light or shame
Baby, I don't know
Every morning of our lives
The classroom rang with children's voices
Under teacher's watchful eye
We learned about the world around us
At our desks and at dinner time
Reminded of the starving children
We cleaned our plates with guilty minds
And the stones in the road
Shone like diamonds in the dust
And then a voice called to us
To make our way back home
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
And the TV glowed that long hot summer
With all the cities burning down
And the stones in the road
Flew out beneath our bicycle tires
Worlds removed from all those fires
As we raced each other home
And now we drink our coffee on the run
We climb that ladder rung by rung
We are the daughters and the sons
And 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 suite
We kiss your ass, we make you hold
We doctor the receipt
And the stones in the road
They fly out from beneath our wheels
Another day, another deal
Before we get back home
Stones in the road
Leave a mark whence they came
A thousands points of light or shame
Baby, I don't know
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I take it as, when she was younger she remembers everything, every detail, and she loved life and took her time. when she was older, she and all the people around her couldn't or didn't look around them, at the 'stones in the road', they just seemed to focus on the road and nothing else. MCC is just explaining the sadness that comes with not enjoying life.
This has to be one of MCC's greatest songs. Joan Baez asked to use it before MCC even did and she agreed to let her. In my opinion, Baez did not do a good job of it, she sounded pretentious while MCC's version carried the right amount of world weariness the lyric requires. She did write it after all. A magical mix of melody and rhyme lamenting the passing of times when people had role models to inspire them, like Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Whatever "role models" are held up today usually reflect shallowness and stupidity as if it were a virtue.
Listening today, I didn't catch the last line of the bridge which starts with "We drink our coffee on the run..." I wonder what happened as the last line of the bridge is "And here's the line that's missing."
Little easter egg we might need to ask Ms. Chapin-Carpenter about? LOL!