A song about being homeless...........
texas
acoustic
rich
originals
cat
macklin
croce
Story behind the song
Face Down
Years ago I worked in downtown Philadelphia before they got the homeless problem mostly solved, probably more likely just out of sight. One Christmas season I saw a mother and her son go to Hell on Earth in three weeks…..
The first time I saw them outside the building I worked in I thought they were Christmas shoppers, until she pushed him into the crowd to panhandle, he looked about 12.
The next time I saw them it was obvious they were living on the street, dirty clothes, hopeless eyes, they looked so lost.
The next time a few days later the woman was by herself, don’t know what happened to her son. She was in an alley fighting with a huge man over a cardboard refrigerator box, something for shelter in the winter weather.
The last time I saw her she was sleeping on a subway steam grate, soaked from the steam but warm until she left the grate. When I walked by she got violent and started kicking me as I passed, it hurt and I was furious for a second until I saw the look in her eyes….three weeks ago she lost her home, then her son. I went to my office and cried.
One small piece of the homeless situation had unfolded on my commute to work, and to my eternal shame I did nothing….but it changed me.
This was in 1995, the weekend before Christmas I wrote this song. I don’t know why I changed the character to a man; the inspiration was this woman and her child, maybe that made it too personal. Even though it is depressing and hard to sing without getting emotional, it is my favorite song…………..
I am doing a benefit on the 25th , we hope to have 200 people, all proceeds going to a mother and her two children who lost everything in a fire a few weeks ago, they shall not go homeless. I did learn a life lesson in 1995.
Give to those less fortunate when you can, volunteer when you can’t.
Lyrics
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