A Better Kind of Thing | Outlaw Country - Appalachian Vibe | Tarnished American Dream - Bad Economy

Lyrics: The rent went up before the daylight The grocery cart got light again You count the hours on the factory floor Then count the dollars at the end There’s a school-note folded in your jacket And a fever burning down the hall You tell the kids that things get better While you’re waiting on the Doctor's call They sold us ladders made of paper And called the climb a guarantee But every rung is out of reach now For the ones who keep this country free We were promised a place at the table A little house, a little room to breathe Now the American dream wears a price tag And it’s hanging where our hands can’t reach Still I’ll carry the weight till morning Still I’ll bring what I can bring If the dream won’t open its doors for us We’ll build a better kind of thing The old truck sputters beside the mailbox Its tires are bald, its tank is low Your mother calls from two states over Says she’s fine, but you both know The bank can take the years you borrowed The boss can take the name off your door But they can’t take the way you held her When the sirens fade, and Mom is no more There’s no parade for staying faithful No medal pinned for making do Just coffee cooling by the window And one more day to see it through We were promised a place at the table A little house, a little room to breathe Now the American dream wears a price tag And it’s hanging where our hands can’t reach Still I’ll carry the weight till morning Still I’ll bring what I can bring If the dream won’t open its doors for us We’ll build a better kind of thing Maybe wealth is not the measure Maybe worth is what survives A neighbor leaves a bag of groceries A tired nurse keeps someone alive We are more than unpaid balances More than numbers in a file When the powerful forget our names We remember every mile We were promised a place at the table But we learned to make our own With a borrowed chair, a busted-up kitchen And a love that won’t let go I’ll carry the weight till morning You can lean your heart on me If the dream won’t open its doors for us We’ll make a way for our family We’ll make a way for our family With whatever’s left to give Not the dream they sold our fathers But a life we choose to live