Before and After lyrics

The dust settles after a hit and run
Bewildered by the damage done
I don't know why we choose the roads we travel
Or how a life could get so unraveled.

We live our lives from then until now,
By the mercies received or the mark upon our brow
To my heart I'll collect what the four winds will scatter
And frame my life into before and after.

Once a trick of light made me believe,
A red fire was blazing from every tree.
We held hands as the evening gathered.
I forgave myself for what I didn't ask her.

I once saw the sky filled with falling stars
Bumped my head in the dark and it left a scar
Held on too tight before I let it go,
Then forgave myself for what I didn't know.

We live our lives from then until now,
By the mercies received or the mark upon our brow
To my heart I'll collect what the four winds will scatter
And frame my life into before and after.

I've stretched my soul over fifty states,
I have lived on fumes and religious cornflakes,
And once I dreamt my shoe had grown thin and battered,
And forgave myself for what didn't matter.

God said Cain where is your brother,
And who will tell his grieving mother?
Jacob dreamt an angel called his name
And he never was quite the same

We live our lives from then until now,
By the mercies received or the mark upon our brow
To my heart I'll collect what the four winds will scatter
And frame my life into before and after.