An old man once told me,
"Don't keep score of things that you've done,
Because it's a false sense of satisfaction you get
From comparing yourself to anyone"
His gentle voice never wavered,
As the train whistles split the afternoon.
And he smiled as I turned from the window back
To the shade of his room.
He said, "I've never made excuses for the ways I've spent my time,
And though my life may've been quiet, I've never doubted that it was mine.
And I've never let myself get stuck in a job that wasted my days away in vain,
And I'll lay down in my grave without feeling I was robbed,
Even though I've never hopped a train."
"Some people chase after their freedom," he said, "no matter what gets in the way,
But others plant theirs in the ground that they walk and tend to it every day.
But the only ones I feel sad for are the ones who grow bitter and tame,
'Cause they can't understand that you don't have to give up,
Just because you've never hopped a train."