From the recording Summer In Rhode Island
I wrote this song while volunteering at a Christian Mission in Rhode Island. The characters and situations are very real. It was the hardest work I have ever done, and my heart was broken continuously by the plight of so many beautiful but broken people I encountered. We often referred the chronically addicted to the Teen Challenge program. Without them my work would have been so much more futile. That is why this entire project is intended to raise money for Teen Challenge. They do not just help teens. The oldest man I placed in their program was almost 60 years old. They are the most successful drug and alcohol rehab program in the world and not one of the men or women I placed their had any financial resources whatsoever. They were not turned away. And some are still living, and thriving today.
Lyrics
I’ll Cry for You My Friend
(Words and Music by Charlie Nault)
His old black boots were worn from twenty years of walkin’
And all the booze inside him made it hard just talkin’
A filthy Army jacket bearing someone else’s name
Held the frail remains on his five eleven frame
He took one step towards me then took two steps backwards
Like a stunt man on a tightrope, he threw his harms out to his sides
He glanced up at me and grinned and then he mumbled
“If I drink myself to death tonight would anybody cry?”
I’ll cry for you my friend
When I pray to God tonight
And for all the ones who’ve tried but lost the fight
And for all the others who still fight this battle everyday
Sometimes it seems all that I can do is pray
I could smell the gasoline before I saw her
As she burst through the door her face was filled with horror
Seems her boyfriend had been drinkin’ and they got into a fight
He beat her and then he dowsed her, but she escaped there with her life
Her left eye was swollen shut from where he’d hit her
Still I recognized her face from just a month or so before
As we cleaned her up between her sobs she wondered
“Will he even shed one single tear cause I ain’t going back no more?”
We pick them up and we dust them off and we try to shine the light
And our little mission, in the city is busy day and night
And sometimes things work out right….
His new black boots look slightly off with his tuxedo
Ah but looking at him otherwise, you might never know
Her makeup hid the scars form men she used to love
But when she said “I do” tonight, her eyes were fixed above
You see the two of them, well they’ve put their trust in Jesus Christ
And tonight they stand as living proof of his promise of new life
And so we cry with you my friends as we celebrate tonight
Tears of joy and love, of hope and peace and life
I pray that all the others who still fight this battle everyday
Could find the light fight the truth and find the way…..
….cause I still believe in the awesome power… of prayer…