Room Here For Another
from: Rise As One
I have loved this song since I first learned it in 1991. A story told so well it cannot help but open our hearts to a greater sort of compassion. My gratitude to John for preserving and telling so many great stories with such genuine eloquence.
There's room here for another if you've got no place
Come here into the light so I can see your face
The cops leave us alone here in back of Murphy's body shop
When the weather gets this bad the old man leaves one car unlocked
Well they really gave you quite a cut here this should wipe it clean
Some days you know it seems as though the whole damn world's gone mean
I know this ain't the Hilton, but the back seat here is free
I can see just where you've been my friend and your safe in here with me
My name is William sanders but my friends all call me Bo
I was born right here in Gary 37 years ago
The sky was full of smoke and jobs as far as eye could see
And the future show as bright as new made steel for guys like me
But them things went bad so quick remember back in '81
Like fools we all believed when they said better times would come
Now like the guys who'd hit me up for quarters when we'd meet
I scrounge for scraps of human kindness out here on the street
Well there's Lila at the Bon-Ton, she's good for coffee anytime
And the Lighthouse Mission's warm and dry, but you gotta' talk their line
There's a faucet at the Chevron, they don't turn off at night
If the weather and the luck just hold we might turn out all right
Me I've got two girls, their with my wife somewhere out west
If I just knew they're ok it sure would put my mind at rest
And some days I go to the park just to watch the families come
And remind myself I'm someone's dad not just some Goddamn bum
Cause this sure ain't what I asked for, no this sure ain't what I planned
I'm not looking for a handout but I sure could use a hand
That those who have and those who don't might be as one at last
For the climb you know is long and slow but the fall comes hard and fast
There's room here for another if you've got no place
Come here into the light so I can see your face
The cops leave us alone here in back of Murphy's body shop
When the weather gets this bad the old man leaves one car unlocked
Well they really gave you quite a cut here this should wipe it clean
Some days you know it seems as though the whole damn world's gone mean
I know this ain't the Hilton, but the back seat here is free
I can see just where you've been my friend and your safe in here with me
My name is William sanders but my friends all call me Bo
I was born right here in Gary 37 years ago
The sky was full of smoke and jobs as far as eye could see
And the future show as bright as new made steel for guys like me
But them things went bad so quick remember back in '81
Like fools we all believed when they said better times would come
Now like the guys who'd hit me up for quarters when we'd meet
I scrounge for scraps of human kindness out here on the street
Well there's Lila at the Bon-Ton, she's good for coffee anytime
And the Lighthouse Mission's warm and dry, but you gotta' talk their line
There's a faucet at the Chevron, they don't turn off at night
If the weather and the luck just hold we might turn out all right
Me I've got two girls, their with my wife somewhere out west
If I just knew they're ok it sure would put my mind at rest
And some days I go to the park just to watch the families come
And remind myself I'm someone's dad not just some Goddamn bum
Cause this sure ain't what I asked for, no this sure ain't what I planned
I'm not looking for a handout but I sure could use a hand
That those who have and those who don't might be as one at last
For the climb you know is long and slow but the fall comes hard and fast
© 1988 John McCutcheon, Appalseed Productions (ASCAP)