Owen Young - That Could Have Been You Lyrics

As snow drifting past steel towers turns to rain
And downtown office workers rush by
To catch their homebound trains
He circles back to his subway vent
Unfolds his cardboard box
Counts the coins in his paper cup
And stares into night on a cold sidewalk
He's been on the hard street so long
Fed on life's scraps and bones
Sweet charity can't reach him now
And there's no one to take him home
Through lost and broken memory
Confusion of time and space
He casts his eyes to Heaven's skies
And asks how he could be left in this place
That could have been me
That could have been you
Faced with such times what would we do?
Before you judge another living a life they didn't choose
Imagine yourself walking in their shoes
'Cause it could have been you
Her people stripped of their ancestral life-giving lands
Their language their identity torn from them by colonial plan
She dreams of breathing truth into the history of her nation
Passing the teachings without the hurt to seven new generations
The murdered and the missing ones haunt this sister's heart
Mothers' children found in church made graves
These truths tear her apart
How many lives must be spent gone without a trace?
She lifts her eyes to Creation's skies
And asks how they could be lost in this place
That could have been me
That could have been you
Faced with such times what would we do?
Before you judge another living a life they didn't choose
Imagine yourself walking in their shoes
'Cause it could have been you
Trying to survive being abused had become her daily life
Trapped in a hellish endless maze as her tormentor's wife
Blames herself for her partner's slide into mental helter-skelter
One day she broke and ran with her kids to the safety of a family shelter
A tragedy of circumstance she's afraid of being alone
She's afraid that he will follow her
She knows her children need a home
Her family a victim of the times disrupted and displaced
She looks to the Skies through her children's eyes
And asks when they can get out of this place
That could have been me
That could have been you
Faced with such times what would we do?
Before you judge another living a life they didn't choose
Imagine yourself walking in their shoes
'Cause it could have been you
They say no one is an island
They say no one is alone
They say that love will heal us
They say charity starts at home
Well everyone is family everyone is kin
When another in need knocks on your door
It's time to invite them in
'Cause they could be you they could be me
If not for Grace where would we be?
We are all fellow travelers we won't make it on our own
Let love and let compassion touch your heart of stone
That could have been me
That could have been you
Faced with such times what would we do?
Before you judge another living a life they didn't choose
Imagine yourself walking in their shoes
'Cause it could have been you