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Born and Raised in Black and White Lyrics
The wind blows hard across the Texas plains
Makes some people go insane
While others quietly pray for rain
The's where we came from
Two boys playing in the burning sun
One with books and one with guns
Mama calls but just one comes
The other one runs
In the Christian sense of wrong and right
We were born and raised in black and white
One learned to pray, one learned to fight
We were born and raised in black and white
My brother took to the gospel road
Spent his whole life saving souls
He looked at me and his blood ran cold
He didnt even try
I had no dreams and I had no plans
But a gun felt good in my right hand
Warden said 'How come you killed that man?'
I said 'I dont know why'
Welcome home said the hot moonlight
We were born and rasied in black and white
One lives to pray, one wants to die
We were born and rasied in black and white
We were born and rasied in black and white
Someone handed me a cigarette
They offered me my last request
I asked my mortal soul be blessed
By someone close to me
I came to him with trembling hands
I swore I'd never understand
He said its just what life had planned
It's destiny
So dont waste your tears on me tonight
We were born and rasied in black and white
You chose the dark, I chase the light
We were born and rasied in black and white
We were born and rasied in black and white
The wind blows hard across the Texas plains
Makes some people go insane
While others quietly pray for rain
Makes some people go insane
While others quietly pray for rain
The's where we came from
Two boys playing in the burning sun
One with books and one with guns
Mama calls but just one comes
The other one runs
We were born and raised in black and white
One learned to pray, one learned to fight
We were born and raised in black and white
My brother took to the gospel road
Spent his whole life saving souls
He looked at me and his blood ran cold
He didnt even try
I had no dreams and I had no plans
But a gun felt good in my right hand
Warden said 'How come you killed that man?'
I said 'I dont know why'
Welcome home said the hot moonlight
We were born and rasied in black and white
One lives to pray, one wants to die
We were born and rasied in black and white
We were born and rasied in black and white
Someone handed me a cigarette
They offered me my last request
I asked my mortal soul be blessed
By someone close to me
I came to him with trembling hands
I swore I'd never understand
He said its just what life had planned
It's destiny
So dont waste your tears on me tonight
We were born and rasied in black and white
You chose the dark, I chase the light
We were born and rasied in black and white
We were born and rasied in black and white
The wind blows hard across the Texas plains
Makes some people go insane
While others quietly pray for rain
Song Info
Submitted by
lettersfromwar On Feb 04, 2012
More The Highwaymen
The Highwayman
Cotton Fields
Welfare Line
Jim, I Wore a Tie Today
Against the Wind
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
The Highwaymen have a special significance in my life. There songs were held dear to everyone in my family and were something that actually brought my family together. I have treasured memories of growing up and listening to their music.
This song is one of my top three favourite. When I was a kid I just couldn't get the whole story and shamefully it took me a while before I figured out this song is about a man on death row being executed. There is so much meaning in such few lyrics that tell a big story in this song.
No brainer the song is about people being black and white in the Christian sense, being born either good or bad and begins a story with two boys who are just that.
Complete opposite of each other (they are brothers) One boy "played with books" and did what he was told. "He learned to pray. He became a priest and spent his life saving souls." The other boy played with guns and loved to fight, He had no dreams and no plans. One day he shoots and kills his brother and can not give a reason to why he did only that the gun felt good in his hand.
He must of been a model prisoner and a well liked man, he was comforting the executioner! Who seemed emotionally troubled to the point his hands where trembling! (he came to me with trembling hands, swore he'd never understand) he comforts him saying... "it's just what life had planned, I chose the dark you chased the light, its destiny... don't waste your tears on me tonight"
Someone handed me a cigarette and offered me my "last request" "He came to me with trembling hands" - lethal injection?
"I asked my mortal soul be blessed by someone close to me" - God. His last request was a prayer for his soul.
His fate was sealed that night exactly the way it was written for him - Welcome home said the moonlight
@Blue-Butterfly I interpreted "I asked my mortal soul be blessed by someone close to me" to mean that he asked for his priest brother to visit him and prayer for him before he was to be put to death. His brother came to him with trembling hands, probably overwhelmed with fear and emotion, and stated that he would never understand him. The prisoner tell his brother it was destiny, that he had chosen the dark while his godly brother chased the light (aka religion and a 'good' life). The priest was probably crying and the criminal told him not to waste his tears,...
@Blue-Butterfly I interpreted "I asked my mortal soul be blessed by someone close to me" to mean that he asked for his priest brother to visit him and prayer for him before he was to be put to death. His brother came to him with trembling hands, probably overwhelmed with fear and emotion, and stated that he would never understand him. The prisoner tell his brother it was destiny, that he had chosen the dark while his godly brother chased the light (aka religion and a 'good' life). The priest was probably crying and the criminal told him not to waste his tears, they were born and raised in black and white, that was always the way it was going to turn out.
Two young boys, raised during a time when the line between good and bad seemed so evident, and so too was the difference between them. The bad one shot and killed someone. He ends up on death row. Though they are very different, the good brother with his forgiving demeanor comforts the bad brother about to die.