Music

Bad on Both Sides

drumkit - dan massey
bass guitar - john abbey
electric guitar - grant tye
vocal and electric guitar - robbie fulks
B3 - chris neville
backing vocal - anna fermin

Someone I was reading said his town was so mean that it was bad on both sides of the tracks. The part of life that holds the most interest is that which comes after the part addressed by pop music, when everyday people are compelled to understand that a heart full of passion, ordinary self-discipline, and all the best intentions are no hedge against disappointment, disaster, and death.

Lyrics

Across that field stands a tall silver maple tree
Where me and Lucy Howard once sat and hatched our getaway plan
And down that hill is a ragged yellow clapboard shack
Where Lucy lives now with three kids and a hole, you could call it Dad

I guess this is the kind of place where the smart don’t stay long
You don’t make the Air Force cut, you grow pot or go scare up 80 bucks a day, the so-called honest way
Men that subdued steel, they haunt the taverns and stagger home
I don’t know what’s kept me here myself, it’s like the past is a planet all its own

Big chains on the highwayside
And the rest has all but died
Buddy I'll bet we're a lot like you
There’s tracks in our town too

CHORUS:
And it’s bad, bad on both sides
Small town with a big divide
Bad on both sides

You know, thinking about it, that long gone summer with her could have been the happiest I’ve been
Yeah, but it couldn’t last – Lucy was free-spirited and I was straitlaced and shy
If Jeffrey Jackson was a little out of control, that was more like her speed
So they set up shop, she bartended nights, he drywalled, and things was alright – at least for a while

Sure them neighbors they'd go on
Some nights he was nasty drunk, some nights gone
I always thought a guy that looked that mean
Could not be half as tough as he seemed
CHORUS:
But he was bad on both sides
Under the dark eyes he had a lot to hide
Bad on both sides

Laugh all you like, a Wal-Mart checkout's not a bad spot to watch the world pass by
Fat skinny crippled and lame, and look, here comes an old flame with shadows underneath her eyes
I hear the husband he shot bounced back, and as for Jeffrey, we’ll find out in five to ten
Meanwhile, I watch her walk slow across that lot...thinking about me...thinking about him

On the slave side of a steel fence
You'd say he's the worse one off, but I’m not convinced
Because when you’re down to remembering
One golden hour's still one fine thing

CHORUS:
It’s bad – bad on both sides
Sometimes there’s a big bright line
And it's bad on both sides.

Guitar Chords/Tab

Guitar chords/tab are not available for this song