Sense of Right and Wrong

[good4somethingbum]

Sense of Right and Wrong ©2016 Robert George BMI

Lookin’ back now I was maybe eight or nine
Standin’ outside with my father in a ticket line
Behind us was a fella in a fancy suit
With a lady in a scarlet dress and boots

She made a subtle gesture with her hand
Someone opened fire from a dark sedan
That guy collapsed with three holes near his heart
Dad called 911 and gave him CPR
He pulled through and later made a solemn vow
He’d repay my dad… someway, somehow

Nothing keeps a person wise and strong
Like an inner sense of right and wrong

Two weeks later dad was watchin’ news and drinkin’ beer
They flashed that lady’s photo claiming she’d disappeared
And we never heard about that vow again
Maybe codes of honor are forgotten by dishonest men

But nothing keeps a person wise and strong
Like an inner sense of right and wrong

It was ten years later on a quiet Christmas Eve
Dad was killed at home when he surprised a thief
The judge and jury were liberal and soft
And that killer’s lawyer got him off
One night someone left a note beneath my welcome mat
Sayin’ they’d be happy to avenge my dad

Nothing keeps a person wise and strong
Like an inner sense of right and wrong

I thought about the swift trial of an untraceable gun
And knew something drastic had to be done
I hiked across town in the foggy dead of night
Pounded on that oak door fearin’ I’d be shot on sight
I told that mobster if he’d just forget his vengeance code
He’d repay my dad the debt of life he owed

Nothing keeps a person wise and strong
Like an inner sense of right and wrong