Escrita por Bruce Springsteen, foi gravada entre dezembro de 1981 e janeiro
de 1982 e lançada no disco Nebraska, o sexto de Bruce, em 30 de setembro de
1982. Foi produzida por Bruce Springsteen. É a última canção do disco. Bruce fala quatro pequenas
histórias em quatro versos. Um homem que tenta ressuscitar um cachorro morto na
estrada. Uma mulher esperando na estrada por um homem que nunca chega. Uma
criança nasce e um homem morre e um noivo que espera por uma noiva que nunca
apareceu. Os versos são unidos pela frase de que as pessoas sempre acham uma razão
pra viver. Bruce tocou violão e gaita e cantou.
A letra:
Seen a man standin' over a dead dog
By the highway in a ditch
He's lookin' down kinda puzzled
Pokin' that dog with a stick
Got his car door flung open
He's standin' out on Highway 31
Like if he stood there long enough
That dog'd get up and run
Struck me kinda funny
Seemed kinda funny sir to me
Still at the end of every hard day
People find some reason to believe
Now Mary Lou loved Johnny
With a love mean and true
She said baby I'll work for you every day
Bring my money home to you
One day he up and left her
And ever since that
She waits down at the end of that dirt road
For young Johnny to come back
Struck me kinda funny
Funny yeah, indeed
How at the end of every hard-earned day
People find some reason to believe
Take a baby to the river
Kyle William, they called him
Wash the baby in the water
Take away little Kyle's sin
In a whitewash shotgun shack
An old man passes away
Take the body to the graveyard
Over him, they pray
Lord won't you tell us?
Tell us what does it mean
At the end of every hard-earned day
People find some reason to believe
Congregation gathers
Down by the riverside
Preacher stands with a bible
Groom stands waitin' for his bride
Congregation gone, the sun sets
Behind a weepin' willow tree
Groom stands alone and watches the river
Rush on so effortlessly
Wonderin'
Where can his baby be
Still at the end of every hard-earned day
People find some reason to believe
A versão de
Bruce Springsteen:
