Way of the Land - Janis Ian

Man rolls out of bed and he knots his tie

Gulps his coffee as he says goodbye

Drags his car down a one-way street

Got appointments to keep

It’s the way of the land

He works in a room with the windows closed

Got no time for the open road

Punches out at a quarter to five

Feels a little bit more alive

It’s the way of the land

He used to dream of Robin Hood

He used to make his plans

To race through Sherwood Forest

With a longbow in his hand

And Friar Tuck and Marian

Would call him hero then

He’d rob the rich and help the poor

To understand, man to man,

It was the way of the land

Woman wakes up and she makes the bed

Got a thousand troubles running through her head

Drags her body through another day

For a little under minimum wage

It’s the way of the land

Got no job but she works full time

Get the kids on the bus and the washing on the line

And the rushing and the planning and the grocery shop

Having dinner ready seven o’clock

It’s the way of the land

She used to dream of Tinkerbelle

She dreamt of Peter Pan

Of scouting distant islands

Finding treasures in the sand

She’d battle Captain Hook

Until he’d lost his other hand

And clap so hard that every child

Would live again, to ride the wind

It’s the way of the land

I dreamed a dream just the other night

My mama walked and my daddy cried

And their eyes were bright as shooting stars

And they held each other hard

You understand…

They used to dream of travelling

They used to make those plans

Fred Astaire and Ginger

In the ballrooms of romance

But time is hard on heroes

They never had the chance

I dreamed a dream the other night

And knew somehow that they’re dancing now

'Cause it’s the way of the land

It’s the way of the land