the river flowed with a friend's request
to take him to a hospital out west
inside the man i saw the child's fears
and what it takes to face
a pain that's lasted years
it made me think all about my life
a friend of mine under the surgeon's knife
i took a drive and i looked around
the haunted streets of my old home town
somewhere a child who once was me
runs up the porch and turns around to see
this stranger's face behind the looking glass
behind the future and into the past
both had a pain he could not conceal
don't even ask me which of them was real
one turned away the other turned around
and vanished like a shadow in my old home town
the ragged yard and the paint all chipped
the sky as grey as a battleship
these people fallen on their own hard times
behind the windows that i once called mine
could there still be something here for me
among these warehouses and factories
my grammar school both boarded up and down
without a trace of mercy in my old home town
i loved a girl here when we both were young
no sweeter name had ever crossed my tongue
the last i heard a daughter of her own
far across the river where i heard she made her home
and while my thoughts rose above these things
i saw the place as if my soul had wings
and i was lifted to a higher ground
carried by an angel over my old home town
the highway sign and the railroad track
you can remember but you can't come back
nostalgia alley is no place for me
i took a deep breath and i turned the key
the corner house with the missing tree
must be somebody else's memory
i hit the highway and was southward bound
and said a prayer for dreamers in my old home town
the river flows and the night descends
a little longer and the winter ends
a shooting star so high and silent comes
and returns into darkness where the river runs
as for my friend and the surgery
he's doing well in his recovery
somewhere a child is now safe and sound
fast asleep and dreaming in my old home town
to take him to a hospital out west
inside the man i saw the child's fears
and what it takes to face
a pain that's lasted years
it made me think all about my life
a friend of mine under the surgeon's knife
i took a drive and i looked around
the haunted streets of my old home town
somewhere a child who once was me
runs up the porch and turns around to see
this stranger's face behind the looking glass
behind the future and into the past
both had a pain he could not conceal
don't even ask me which of them was real
one turned away the other turned around
and vanished like a shadow in my old home town
the ragged yard and the paint all chipped
the sky as grey as a battleship
these people fallen on their own hard times
behind the windows that i once called mine
could there still be something here for me
among these warehouses and factories
my grammar school both boarded up and down
without a trace of mercy in my old home town
i loved a girl here when we both were young
no sweeter name had ever crossed my tongue
the last i heard a daughter of her own
far across the river where i heard she made her home
and while my thoughts rose above these things
i saw the place as if my soul had wings
and i was lifted to a higher ground
carried by an angel over my old home town
the highway sign and the railroad track
you can remember but you can't come back
nostalgia alley is no place for me
i took a deep breath and i turned the key
the corner house with the missing tree
must be somebody else's memory
i hit the highway and was southward bound
and said a prayer for dreamers in my old home town
the river flows and the night descends
a little longer and the winter ends
a shooting star so high and silent comes
and returns into darkness where the river runs
as for my friend and the surgery
he's doing well in his recovery
somewhere a child is now safe and sound
fast asleep and dreaming in my old home town