Land Of Dreams

I ran out on my children
And i ran out on my wife
Gonna run out on you too, baby
I done it all my life
Everybody cried the night i left
Well, almost everybody did
My little boy just hung his head
And i put my arm, put my arm around his little shoulder
And this is what i said:
"sonny i just want you to hurt like i do
I just want you to hurt like i do
I just want you to hurt like i do
Honest i do, honest i do, honest i do"

If i had one wish
One dream i knew would come true
I'd want to speak to all the people of the world
I'd get up there, i'd get up there on that platform
First i'd sing a song or two you know i would
Then i'll tell you what i'd do
I'd talk to the people and i'd say
"it's a rough rough world, it's a tough tough world
Well, you know
And things don't always, things don't always go the way we plan
But there's one thing, one thing we all have in common
And it's something everyone can understand
All over the world sing along

I just want you to hurt like i do
I just want you to hurt like i do
I just want you to hurt like i do
Honest i do, honest i do, honest i do"

One september morning when i was five
My daddy said, "son, rise from your bed."
I thought, i must be dreaming, it's still dark outside
He said, "son if you fall behind you'll never get ahead
Here's your little brown cowboy shirt, put it on
Here's your little brown cowboy pants, put 'em on
Here's your little brown shoes, can you tie them yourself?
Get into the car, we're gone!"

We drove, it seemed like forever,
Further than i'd ever been away from home
Then my daddy stopped the car, and he turned to me
He said, "son it's time to make us proud of you,
It's time to do what's right
Gonna have to learn to work hard"
I said, "work? what are you talking about?
You're not gonna leave me here, are you?"
He said "yes i am!"
And drove off into the morning light

For a while i stood there, on the sidewalk
A roy rogers lunch pail in my hand
Then i heard sweet children's voices calling
And i began to understand
They said, "four eyes! look like you're still sleeping!"
"four eyes! look like you're dead!"
"four eyes! where have you been keeping yourself?"
"look like you been whupped upside the head."

All dressed up, nowhere to go
Looks so easy but it isn't you know
Hard to find what you're dreamin' of
But there's something special about our love

Different people, different worlds
You just call me, and i'll be there for you
We belong together you know it's true
'cause there's something special about our love

It's all right,
Baby, it's ok
We're gonna make it no matter what they say
Sure as the stars shine in the sky above
There is something special about our love

People change as time goes by
Others come between
But i'll love you 'til the day i die
'cause there's something special 'bout you and me
Something special about our love

Left los angeles a short while ago
Flew 'cross the country back to buffalo
Walked around through the sleet and the snow
With a red bandana on my head
Saw my momma on 12th and grand
Standing in the alley with the junkyard man
They were both so loaded they could hardly stand
Talkin' 'bout going to mexico
I said "momma i was born
Out there i was born again
Been clear to california and back
Was out there so long many times i thought i was dead"
She said, "sonny what's that you got wrapped around your head?"

It's a red bandana
It's a red bandana
It's a red bandana
It's from hollywood usa

Looked for the woman i used to love
Seen her in a bar off the harlem road
Talking in a booth with charley hobbs
And this ugly little dude whom i didn't know

She said "honey you're back i'm so glad
When you was gone i was so sad
You come in here lookin' so bad
With that red bandana on your head
With that red bandana on your head"

Yes! it's a red bandana
It's a red bandana
It's a red bandana
And it's red just like your blood is

You can stand alone
Or with somebody else
Or stand with all of us, together
If you can believe
In something bigger than yourself
You can follow the flag forever

They say it's just a dream
That dreamers dreamed
That it's an empty thing that really has no meaning
They say it's all a lie
But it's not a lie
I'm going to follow the flag 'til i die

Into every life a little rain must fall
But it's not gonna rain forever
You can rise above--you can rise above it all
We will follow the flag together
We will follow the flag together

I was born right here, november '43
My dad was a captain in the army
Fighting the germans in sicily.
My poor little momma
Didn't know a soul in l.a.
So we went down to the union station and made our getaway.
Got on the dixie flyer bound for new orleans
Across the state of texas to the land of dreams.
On the dixie flyer bound for new orleans
Back to her friends and her family in the land of dreams.
Her own mother came to meet us at the station,
Her dress as black as a crow in a coal mine
She cried when her little girl got off the train.
Her brothers and her sisters drove down from jackson, mississippi
In a great green hudson driven by a gentile they knew.
Drinkin' rye whiskey from a flask in the back seat
Tryin' to do like the gentiles do
Christ, they wanted to be gentiles, too.
Who wouldn't down there, wouldn't you?
An american christian, god damn!
On the dixie flyer bound for new orleans
Back to her friends and her family in the land of dreams
On the dixie flyer bound for new orleans
Across the state of texas to the land of dreams
Across the state of texas to the land of dreams.

They say that people are livin' in the street
No food in their belly, no shoes on their feet
Six black children livin' in a burned-up room
One bare light bulb swinging
Little black kid come home from school
Put his key in the door
Mr. rat's on the stairway, mr. junkie's lyin' in his
Own vomit on the floor
You gotta roll with the punches, little black boy
That's what you got to do
You got to roll with the punches
Tap it baby

There's all these boring people, you see 'em on the tv
And they're making up all these boring stories
About how bad things have come to be
They say "you got to, got to, got to feed the hungry"
"you got to, got to, got to heal the sick"
I say we ain't gotta do nothin' for nobody
'cause they won't work a lick, you know
They just gonna have to roll with the punches, yes they will
Gonna have to roll with them
They gonna have to roll with the punches, yes they will
It don't matter whether you're white, black or brown
You won't get nowhere putting down
The old red, white and blue
Tap it baby. alright. all right!
Look at those little shorts he's got on, ladies and
Gentlemen
You can see all the way to argentina
Get it
So pretty

Let 'em go to belgium, let 'em go to france
Let 'em go to russia
Well at least they ought to have the chance to go there
We have talked about the red, we have talked about the blue
Now we gonna talk about the white
That's what we're gonna do
Now we had to roll with the punches, yes we did
We had to roll with 'em
We had to roll with the punches
Yes we did
We had to roll with 'em
I don't care what you say
You're livin' in the greatest country in the world
When you're livin' in the usa
Tap it baby, alright
All right