And Then She Smiles (1990s Studio Version)

The starvin' kids are cryin', and the planet's full of pain
Maple trees are dyin' 'cause of all the acid rain
Running out of oil and runnin' out of trees
We're killin' all the little animals and the fishes in the seas
Babblin' brook is poisoned and it isn't fit to drink
We're pissin' in the river, throwin' garbage down the sink
It ends up in the ocean, and it looks like on the brink
Social Armageddon pretty quick
The whole damn ball of wax is pretty sick
Everything's so wrong it can't go right
There ain't no way we'll make it through the night
We just can't seem to cope
We'rе runnin' out of hope
My bleedin' heart's so sore
I just can't takе it anymore
And then she smiles

My best friend got the cancer, and he's lost his will to live
Giv'im all I've got but I got nothin' more to give
Mama's gone to Heaven an' my Daddy's gone to Hell
My daughter's livin' on the street an' the kid ain't doin' so well
My cabin jus' got burglarized, I lost my best guitar
My brother's running from the law but he won't get very far
My only son done broke his leg while reachin' for a star
Whiskey in my glass is gettin' low
I got no other place that I can go
The music on the radio is trash
The vice squad busted up my birthday bash
The rent is due today
I can't get it up no way
I'm not just broke I'm poor
I just can't take it anymore
And then she smiles

Well, it's tote that barge an' lift that bale from the cradle to the grave
Paradise's swiftly paid well there, really, isn't any time to save
That achin' in my back is comin' back on me again
It seems like every brand new day is one big brand new pain
There isn't any pill can cure this throbbin' in my head
I feel like givin' up and lyin' down and playin' dead
I don't know what I'm gettin' out of gettin' out of bed
Got no blessed thing to call my own
They never throw me nothin' but a bone
Never seen me dance? I don't know how
Besides, the piper wants his money now
I'm lonely in the crowd
I'm bloody and I'm bowed
I'm halfway out the door
I just can't take it anymore
And then she smiles

Maybe if I toe the line and hit the mark some more
My feet won't fail me now and well my back won't be so sore
Bringin' home the bacon's all I know and all I do
It makes no sense to me, I'm like a monkey in a zoo
A face is on the canvas, while the Big Guy takes the gate
A one-way ticket to Palookaville it's all I've ever rated
And I bemoan my outcast state and sadly curse my fate
Life is just a vale of tears, they say
But sometimes something brightens up the day
Just when everything looks like it's over
You find you're starin' at a four-leaf clover
When everything looks black
She tosses her hair back
Reaches out her hand
Tells me I look grand
And then she smiles

And then she smiles