Anderson's Luck

It was Anderson’s luck that found him outside the city
Eating bully-beef and drinking the weak coffee
And it was Anderson’s luck that held him out for this long
From the city he smelled wood smoke and wondered how she did alone
At night she huddles tight around the wood stove
Listening to radio free, waiting for the distant low sounds
Of the big guns waking up for the evening
And it’s just a nuisance, a shame that she’s used to it
Winter’s on now
He’s been months down
To the fighting for the city
She plays a mean game of hide and seek through the back streets
She makes a careful way past frozen eyes under dirty sheets
She knows the moment when it comes, ain’t nothing more than pure luck
A great blinding instant then you rise up above it all
Winter’s on now
How much longer
Can she hold out in the city
People open wide your eyes to this day dawning
People open wide your arms to your brothers
People open wide your eyes to what’s going on
And pray, yeah
It was Anderson’s luck to be there when it happened
He was on a short leave, they drank weak coffee by the wood stove
As the low moan of cannon came calling from the mountains
Perhaps they heard the shot come knocking on their door
Winter’s on now
There ain’t no wood anyhow
They laid them under dirty sheets
The ten o’clock news is on
In the mouth of the mountains the city lies still under siege
My wife reads quiet at the firelight
I turn it off, step outside for wood from a fallen tree
Winter’s on now
I got coffee on
My kids sleep safely in the city
Winter’s on now
There ain’t no wood anyhow
They laid them out under dirty sheets
And pray for the lucky ones
And pray for the lucky ones