Tony Joe White - The Other Side

They say these are dangerous times Got to be on guard Bad news across the land Rumors of war And all along the borderlines You can feel the strain And looking back through the years Ain't nothin' changed They shook the red man's hand And forever changed his destiny Put him on some godforsaken land And took away his dignity Now he floats in dreams where eagles fly Sinkin' in the stream of wasted lives They're just standin' by Until they reach the other side Homeless people shuffle alone in the dark With everything they own in a grocery cart And still the lines are drawn between colors of skin Just a broken wing that never mends They took their heavy load With discrimination on the run Marchin' down the dusty roads Singin', "We Shall Overcome" Standing up for all they believe was right They knew that God was on their side Will we ever see the light Before we reach the other side? Far across the sea Young people gather on the square Tryna set their spirits free There was revolution in the air Singin' songs of freedom through the night Who could know they would have to lay down their lives And never know the reason why Until we reach the other side?