Mary Chapin Carpenter

Stones In The Road

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Stones In The Road Lyrics

	


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 dinnertime
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The starving children have been replaced by souls out on the street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 fly out from beneath our wheels
Another day, another deal, before we get back home
 
And the stones in the road leave a mark from whence they came
A thousand points of light or shame, baby, I don't know

	

Submitted by

cryn_out On Sep 23, 2004

10,000 Miles

He Thinks He'll Keep Her

I Feel Lucky

Passionate Kisses

Only A Dream

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3 Meanings

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by pamplemousse916

16y ago

I love this song

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.

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by detailrich

16y ago

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.

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by pnance26

4y ago

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!

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