Story Behind The Song
This is a situation that regretably happens in todays society. Kids get lost in the system, Their anger bulds up until one day it explodes and the dam breaks and one can only imagine what happens next.
Song Description
Ayoung black boy who spends his day playing in an abandoned house and vacant lot. His mother gets shot, so the Social Workers take hin to a foster home. Living there he builds up resentment and has to "stuff" his feelings. He literally "holds back the tid
| Song Length |
4:22 |
Genre |
Pop - Alternative, Blues - Modern |
| Tempo |
Medium (111 - 130) |
Lead Vocal |
Duet Male |
| Mood |
Heartbreaking, Cheerless |
Subject |
Life, Ghetto, Barrio |
| Similar Artists |
The Dave Matthews Band, The Alan Parsons Project |
Language |
English |
| Era |
2000 and later |
| |
Lyrics
In a boarded up shack at the edge of town
A place that everyone ignores
Everyone except one small youngster
Who means no harm, he's just a boy
He plays his games inside this vacant house
And hides his dreams around the lot
His mother left him last Christmas,
It only took that man one shot
CHORUS
He's holding back the tide
The tide of tears and pain
A little one so frightened with nothing left to gain, yeah
The white folks said he was an orphan
And so they took this boy away
Suffocating in his anger
Resentment holds his heart at bay
He has a reputation that follows him around
You can see him walking the streets at night
Shadows appearing on the ground
They took away his momma he never knew just why
Today he goes on living
Just holding back the tide, yeah
He's holding back the tide
The tide of tears and pain
He's drownin in the water
He's soaking up the pain.
He's holding back the tide
He's holding back the tide
A little one so frightened
Now he's grown up and holding back the tide
He's holding back the tide
He's holding back the tide
END