A song about the characters in a box car during the Depression. The song also concerns itself with the way we can often look back to hard times and consider them as being the best of times. It's about the human spirit.
Lyrics
Better Times
I remember we were bound for glory
I remember better times
Everyone had their story
An' a buddy could spare a dime
I loved you like a brother
I loved the trains and the wine
The cheaper the better
Oh I remember better times
When you heard that whistle blowing
She was coming to a bend
The train would get to slowing
And you could help some other friend
And you could treat him like a brother
You could share the bread and the wine
But he could be the Devil
Just jumping trains to Perdition's line
There'd be one man with a Bible
An' gamblers at his feet
He'd raise Cain and Abel
An' those boys would start to cheat
And they'd fight just like brothers
They’d fight in Jesus' name
And all of the others
Betting on who would win
And there’d be a story about a woman
That every one could share
We’d all remembered loving her
And combing her long black hair
Some would call her sister
She was everything and more
She was a mother
A sweetheart and a whore
When the train could go no further
We’d jump the rails and run
Looking for a job that had no worker
Was the hardest work we ever done
And those nights were cold and lonely
You could die just tryin' to keep warm
Dreaming of glory
And that woman's loving arms
I remember we were bound for glory
I remember better times
Everyone had their story
An' a buddy could spare a dime
I loved you like a brother
I loved the trains and the wine
The cheaper the better
Oh I remember better times
© Better Times words & music by Thomas Yule Fairnie 2001