REASON TO BELIEVE^©

Live 17 Nov 1990 version

Seen a man standin' over a dead dog lyin' by the highway in a ditch
He's lookin' down kinda puzzled pokin' that dog with a stick
He's got his car door flung open he's standin' out on Highway 31
Like if he stood there long enough that dog'd get up and run
Man it struck me kinda funny, seemed kinda funny sir to me
Still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

Now Mary Lou loved Johnny with a love mean and true
She said "Baby I'll work for you every day and bring my money home to you"
One day he up and left her and ever since that
She waits down at the end of that dirt road for young Johnny to come back
Yeah it strikes me kinda funny, seems kinda funny sir to me
How at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

Take a baby to the river, Kyle William they called him
They wash the baby in the water, take away little Kyle's sins
In a whitewash shotgun shack an old man passes away
They take his body to the graveyard and over him they pray
Lord now won't you tell us, tell us what does it mean
Still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

The congregation gathers down by the riverside
Preacher stands with a Bible, groom stands waitin' for his bride
The congregation gone, the sun sets behind a weepin' willow tree
The groom stands alone and watches the river rush on so effortlessly
Oh and he's wonderin' where can his baby be
Still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

The above lyrics refer to the live 17 Nov 1990 version at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, during the benefit shows for the Christic Institute.

Check out the album's version (more details) and the other live versions: Live/1975-85, 16 Nov 1984, 18 Nov 1984, 19 Nov 1984, 07 Dec 1984, 07 Jan 1985, 16 Nov 1990, 18 Feb 1996, and 15 May 2005. Check also the 14 Jun 2006 cover version and Aimee Mann & Michael Penn's version.

Spoken intro on 17 Nov 1990 at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA:

This is a song about uh, blind faith and illusion and... Uh, I guess everybody, we all live with our illusions, that's how we get through, through the day most of the time. And uh, little ones, they say it can be bad, they can cut down on your ability to enjoy your life and the big illusions they can be really dangerous. Everybody starts believing those big illusions and you end up with the government that we've had for the past decade. You know. so uh, this is a song about the price you pay.