Abraham, martin and john lyrics

Artist  : Emmylou harris 
Song : Abraham, martin and john
 

I am a backseat driver from America 
They drive to the left on Falls Road 
And the man at the wheels name is Shamus 
We pass a the child on a corner he knows 
And Shamus says "now what chance has that
kid got" 
And I say from the back "I don`t know" 

He says "there`s barbed wire at all of these
exits" 
There ain`t no place in Belfast for that kid to
go 
And it`s a hard life, it`s a hard life 
It`s a very hard life 
It`s a hard life wherever you go 
And we poison our children with hatred 
And the hard life is all that they know 

At the dairyline in Chicago 
A fat man in front of me 
He`s calling black people trash to his children 
And he`s the only trash here I see 
And I`m thinking this man wears a white hood 
In the night when his children should sleep 
But they`ll slip to their windows and see him 
They`ll think that white hood`s all they need 

And it`s a hard life, it`s a hard life 
It`s a very hard life 
It`s a hard life wherever you go 
And if we poison our children with hatred 
Then the hard life is all that they know 

I was a child of the sixties 
When dreams could be held through tears 
With Disney and Cronkite and Martin Luther 
And I belived, I believed, I believed 

Now I`m a backseat driver from America 
And I`m not at the wheel of control 
And I am guilty, I am worn, I am the root of all
evil 
And I can`t drive on the left side of the road 

And it`s a hard life, it`s a hard life 
It`s a very hard life 
It`s a hard life wherever you go 
And if we poison our children with hatred 
Then the hard life is all that they`ll know 

And there ain`t no place in this world for these
kids to go 
Cause it`s a hard life wherever you go 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham, 
Can you tell me where he`s gone? 
He freed a lotta people, but it seems the good
die young 
I just looked around and he`s gone. 

Has anybody here seen my old friend Martin, 
Can you tell me where he`s gone? 
He freed a lotta people, but it seems the good
die young 
I just looked around and he`s gone. 

Has anybody here seen my old friend John, 
Can you tell me where he`s gone? 
He freed a lotta people, but it seems the good
die young 
I just looked around and he`s gone. 

Didn`t you love the things they stood for? 
Didn`t they try to find some good in you and me? 
And we`ll be free 
Someday soon it`s gonna be one day 

Has anybody here seen my old friend Bobby, 
Can you tell me where he`s gone? 
I thought I saw him walkin` up over the hill 
With Abraham and Martin and John.