Hank Williams: A Picture From Life's Other Side

Written by Frank B. Smith

In the worlds mighty gallery of pictures,
Hang the scenes that are painted from life,
There's pictures of love and of passion,
And there's pictures of peace and of strife,
There hang pictures of youth and of beauty,
Of old age, and the blushing young bride,
They all hang on the wall,
But the saddest of all,
Are the pictures from lifes other side.

Just a picture from lifes other side,
Someone has fell by the way,
A life has gone out with the tide,
That might have been happy some day,
There's a poor old mother at home,
She's watching and waiting alone,
Just longin' to hear,
From a loved one so dear,
It's just a picture from lifes other side.

The first scene is that of a gambler,
Who had lost all his money at play,
And he draws his dead mothers ring from his finger,
That she wore long ago on her wedding day,
It's his last earthly treasure, but he stakes it,
And he bows his head that his shame that he might hide,
But when they lifted his head,
They found he was dead,
That's just a picture from lifes other side.

Now the last scene, is that by the river,
Of a heart broken mother and babe,
as the harbor lights shine and they shimmer,
On an outcast whom no-one will save,
And yet she was once a true woman,
She was some bodys darlin' and pride,
God help her she leaps,
For there's no-one to weep,
It's just a picture from lifes other side.

[extra verse]
The next was a scene of two brothers
Whose pathways so diff'rent had led
One lived the life of a rich man
The other one begged for his bread
Then one night they met on the highway
"Your money or life", the thief cried
And then with his knife - took his own brother's life
It's just a picture from life's other side.