One Time, One Night

Album: By the Light of the Moon (1987)
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  • A wise man was telling stories to me
    About the places he had been to and the things that he had seen

    A quiet voice is singing something to me
    An age old song 'bout the home of the brave in this land here of the free
    One time one night in America

    A lady dressed in white with the man she loves
    Standing along the side of their pick up truck
    A shot rang out in the night
    Just when everything seemed right
    Another headline written down in America

    The guy that lived next door in three o five
    Took the kids to the park and disappeared 'bout half past nine
    Who will ever know how much she loved them so
    That dark night alone in America

    A quiet voice is singing something to me
    An age old song 'bout the brave in this land here of the free
    One time one night in America

    Four small boys playing ball in the parking lot
    A preacher, a teacher, and the other became a cop
    A car skidded into the rain
    Making the last little one a saint
    One more light goes out in America

    A young girl tosses a coin in the wishing well
    She hopes for a heaven while for her there's just this hell
    She gave away her life to become somebody's wife
    Another wish unanswered in America
    People having so much faith
    Die too soon while all the rest come late
    We write a song that no one sings
    On a cold black stone where a lasting peace will finally bring

    The sunlight plays upon my window pane
    I wake up to a world that's still the same
    My father said to be strong
    That a good man could never do wrong
    In a dream I had last night in America
    A wise man was telling stories to me
    About the places he had been to and the things that he had seen
    A quiet voice is singing something to me
    An age old song 'bout the home of the brave in this land here of the free
    One time one night in America
    One time one night in America
    One time one night in America Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 3

  • Alan K from Sf Bay AreaGreat song! Relevant social commentary about some of the other sides of life in the U.S.
  • Perry E Duffy from Coloradogreat lyrics, very initiative writer lyrics........
  • Gettin' It Right from CaliforniaAs to the comment above about a woman forced into an unhappy marriage? No. It's of a young GIRL who married for American citizenship, now trapped in a country she doesn't know, with nothing she had wished or hoped for (and likely was promised) coming true.
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