Weight of the World - Judy Collins

I still see my brother Michael

Pressed and polished, shaking hands down at the store

Everyone had come to see the all-star hop the greyhound bus and go to war

He punched me in the arm to say goodbye

It was the first time that I saw our father cry

I kept all my brother’s letters tied in ribbon in a box beneath my bed

Every night I read by flashlight with the covers in a tent above my head

His words said «Not to worry, doing fine»

It was his way of trying to ease my mind

While I was trying not to read between the lines

The weight of the world, too heavy to lift

So much to lose, so much to miss

It doesn’t seem fair that an innocent boy

Should have to carry the weight of the world

Then it was football games and homecoming and

Picking out our dresses for the prom

With my brother in some desert dodging bullets when he wasn’t dodging bombs

While we went from the land of brave and free

To just being afraid to disagree

While I was being brought down to my knees by

The weight of the world, too heavy to lift

So much to lose, so much to miss

It doesn’t seem fair that an innocent boy

Should have to carry the weight of the world

It was the middle of December when the Army sent my brother home at last

While the flagpole by the football field flew the colors half-way down the mast

The wind blew cold and snow was coming down

Still everybody turned out from our town

As we laid my brother in that frozen ground

The weight of the world, too heavy to lift

So much was lost, so much was missed

It doesn’t seem fair that any boy or any girl

Should have to carry the weight of the world