Broken Shattered Dreams

By Michael L. Alumbaugh, ©1980, 2005, 2010

This song was written on our second wedding anniversary when my Bride and I traveled to Pensacola, Florida to enjoy the sun and the surf.

During one of our morning walks, I came across various leftover items buried in the sand from some late-night beach part. I recalled their clamor in the twilight moments causing us a bit of restless sleep.

Later that day I heard them arguing and slamming things in their hotel room next door. I concluded that what they searched for during the night was all but wasted the next day. Broken relationships and a dissatisfied life was all that remained.

The words of the prophet address their hopeless journey;  "We wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us." - Isaiah 59:9b - 11

Well, it seems like we're preoccupied

By making memories and passing time

But we keep singing them old blues.

So we look for some alternatives

That might relieve our minds,

Then we stumble 'round

In a midnight cruise.

Now the streetlights pass so slowly,

And the radio just signed off,

And you just killed off that final can of booze.

You see, you're living on the edge

Of your broken shattered dreams

And it cuts you to the bone.

'Aint that the truth.

So you keep on chasing rainbows

And promised pots of gold

But your hands have

Come up empty once again.

Oh, it seem to me a tragedy

If all we seem to do

Is uncover all the tracks

Of where we've been.

Then the good times come along

And we try to make them better.

But when they're gone

They seem so few and far between.

You see, you're living on the edge

Of your broken shattered dreams

And it's cutting at the truth

That lies within.

What if someone came along

And took away your time,

Would your memories redeem

Anything at all?

Would your years of wasted moments

And your miles of running scared

Give you any lasting peace,

Or would you fall?

Well, you say you need those memories

Of friends, of times, of tears.

That's the only way to make

Those moments last.

Well, I know you are persuaded

'Cause you've never heard the truth

And now you're living in a

Broken, faded past.

And your nows are thoughts of yesterday,

Your tomorrows are last year,

And you let the sand continue to shift by.

You see, you're living on the edge

Of you broken shattered dreams.

Now your wound begins to bleed

And then you cry!

All those lies . . . All the lies . . . All the lies!
Ohhh . . . the lies!

What if someone came along

And gave you back the sand

That fell between the fingers

In your grasp.

Would you change your way of living?

Would you change your style of life

If you had a new beginning

From your past?

Well, it seems they were preoccupied

By making memories and passing time

But they kept singing their old blues.

Then, the awaited Son of Time Himself

Came humbly to their cries,

To collect their broken pieces

And make them new.

But their hearts had become hardened

And their eyes had become blinded.

Times 'aint changed,

They're just like me and you.

We'd rather live on the edge

Of our broken shattered dreams

Then to let Christ take our hearts

And make them new.

We'd rather live on the edge of

Our broken shattered dreams

Then to let Christ take our hearts

And make them new.

How 'bout you? . . . How about you? . . . You.
Ohhh . . .