Lyrics

6. All the World before Us 4:23
music and lyrics by Ernest Troost

I stand here on Water Street
Staring out to sea
A bronze and granite likeness
Symbol of the free
Those rusted chains out on the pier
Once held fast our dreams
Like tiny names upon a map
More distant than they seem

chorus
Here along the waterfront
'Neath the twinklin’ of the lights
We once stood with all the world before us

We lost Joey first
In the fall of ‘64
His folks came ‘round to see me
After the war
A purple heart lay at my feet
Their eyes did implore
Please take this grief
We can’t bear it anymore

chorus

bridge
Robert was the lucky one
He came back OK
He sits beside me as
The fog burns off the bay
He said, I seen darkness
Through the eyes of men
It’s with me always now
Like a trusted friend

She leans her weight against me
With a muffled sigh
Her fingers find a name
Cut deep into my side
And as she traces over it
Each letter comes alive
And now the years fade away
And she’s wavin’ him goodbye

chorus

Ernest Troost, vocals, guitars, bass, pump organ, pandemic brass
Shaun Cromwell, harmony