Man of the road

Rate this song

Click a number to rate

About this song

The Good samaritan in song, part 1

Lyrics

PART 1: "A Man of the Road"
[Intro - fingerpicked guitar, voice comes in conversational]
This is a story of the road between two cities
Where holy men walk with their eyes fixed straight ahead
And the rest of us take our chances with the geography
[Verse 1 - Abe]
I set out from the holy city
With the morning sun still pink on the temple walls
Seventeen miles of downhill walking
Through the kind of country where a man can fall
I had a little silver for my business
And a coat my father gave me when he died
The road was empty and the air was yellow
And I walked the way a thousand men have tried
[Chorus]
I'm a man of the road
Just a man of the road
With dust on my sandals and a long way to go
I'm a man of the road
Trying to get home
[Verse 2 - Robbers]
(slightly faster, harder picking)
We work this pass when the weather's good
Me and my brothers know the game
A man alone is opportunity
And opportunity has no shame
He came down whistling like a merchant
We introduced ourselves with wood and blade
Took his silver and his father's coat
And left him lying where he prayed
[Verse 3 - Abe]
I woke to find the sun had moved
And most of my blood had left with it
My father's coat was gone, my silver gone
My body just a ruin lit
I watched the road from where I lay
Pressed into the dirt like something thrown away
Surely someone's coming down this road
Surely someone comes this way
[Chorus]
I'm a man of the road
Just a man of the road
Face down in the gravel lying low
I'm a man of the road
Trying to get home
[Verse 4 - Priest]
(measured, slightly clipped)
I am a priest, I serve the temple
Twenty years of righteousness preserved
I saw the body by the roadside
And I saw what I would lose if I served
If I touch a man who's dying
I'm unclean for seven days
I'd miss my rotation at the altar
So I offered him my silent praise
I crossed the road, I kept my garments clean
Surely someone else will come
Someone with less to lose than me
Someone for whom mercy isn't troublesome
[Verse 5 - Abe]
I heard his sandals on the stones
The swish of linen, temple smoke
I tried to lift my hand to call to him
But something in my body broke
I saw the blue fringe of his prayer shawl
I saw him see me, look away
I saw him cross like I was cursed
And then he was gone into the day
[Chorus]
I'm a man of the road
Just a man of the road
Watching the holy ones come and go
I'm a man of the road
Trying to get home
[Verse 6 - Levite]
(slightly defensive, quicker)
Now I'm no priest, I'm just a singer
I carry hymns, I don't make laws
But a man learns things in temple service
Like when to give and when to pause
I stopped - I'll have you know I stopped
I looked him right there in the face
Could be a trap, could be thieves waiting
A man must think about his place
The priest had already passed him by
A man of higher learning than mine
If he decided nothing could be done
Who am I to cross that line?
[Verse 7 - Abe]
This one stopped
This one looked me in the eyes
And I thought here at last is my deliverance
Here at last my salvation lies
But something shifted in his face
Some calculation running cold
He stepped back like I'd give him fever
And then he left me in the road
Two men of God, two holy servants
Two chances at deliverance lost
And I lay bleeding in the roadside
Learning what salvation costs
[Chorus]
I'm a man of the road
Just a man of the road
Left by the righteous lying low
I'm a man of the road
Trying to get home
God, I'm just trying to get home

Comments (0)