Before And After

The dust settles after a hit and run Bewildered by the damage done I don't know why we chose the roads we travel Or how a life could get so unraveled [Chorus: x2] We live our lives from then until now By the mercy received and the marks on our brow To my heart I'll collect what the four winds will scatter And frame my life into before and after Once a trick of light made me believe A red fire was blazing from every tree We held hands as the evening gathered I forgave myself for what I didn't ask her I once saw the sky filled with falling stars Bumped my head in the dark and it left a scar Held on too tight before I let it go Then forgave myself for what I didn't know I've stretched my soul over fifty states I have lived on fumes and religious cornflakes And once I dreamt my shoe had grown thin and battered And forgave myself for what didn't matter God said Cain where is your brother And who will tell his grieving mother Jacob dreamt an angel called his name And he never was quite the same [Chorus] --- Before and After - Carrie Newcomer and Mary Chapin Carpenter