From the recording The Other Side of These Walls
In Across the Fence, two neighbors discover that conversation is more powerful than assumptions and that understanding begins when people are willing to listen.
Lyrics
[ACROSS THE FENCE]
[Intro]
[Acoustic guitar, light drums, and piano]
There was an old wooden fence
Running right between our yards
Not much to look at
But somehow it felt larger than it was
We'd wave once in a while
Then go about our day
Two neighbors living twenty feet apart
With nothing much to say
[Verse 1]
I knew the sticker on his pickup
He knew the sign out by my door
And somehow we'd both decided
We already knew what the other stood for
So we kept our distance
Stayed inside our separate worlds
Building stories in our heads
Without ever hearing words
[Pre-Chorus]
Funny how assumptions grow
When conversations never start
You can live beside somebody
And never know their heart
[Chorus]
Across the fence
Across the line
Two different roads
Running side by side
Across the fence
We finally found
That people look a lot less different
When you're sitting down
Maybe understanding starts
When we stop keeping score
And meet each other
Across the fence once more
[Verse 2]
One Saturday morning
I saw him struggling with a tree
The storm had knocked it over
And it landed halfway into my driveway
So I grabbed my work gloves
And he laughed and said "Thanks"
Three hours later we were talking
Leaning on that old fence
He showed me pictures of his grandkids
I showed him photographs of mine
And somewhere in between the stories
The labels got left behind
[Pre-Chorus]
Turns out we both worried
About the future every day
And wanted our families safe
In pretty much the same way
[Chorus]
Across the fence
Across the line
Two different roads
Running side by side
Across the fence
We finally found
That people look a lot less different
When you're sitting down
Maybe understanding starts
When we stop keeping score
And meet each other
Across the fence once more
[Bridge]
Nobody changed their politics
Nobody changed their mind
But something changed between us
That day we took the time
To listen instead of waiting
For our turn to speak
Sometimes the strongest bridges
Are built one conversation at a time
And the Blue Wave Revival Band
Keeps singing everywhere we can
That a neighbor is a neighbor
Before they're anything else
[Instrumental Break]
[Acoustic guitar, piano, and uplifting electric guitar]
[Final Chorus]
[Female harmonies enter]
Across the fence
Across the line
Two different stories
Living side by side
Across the fence
We finally learned
Respect grows stronger
When it's freely earned
Maybe America gets better
One neighbor at a time
One conversation
One handshake
One fence line
[Outro]
That old fence is still standing
But it doesn't seem so tall anymore
The Blue Wave Revival Band keeps believing
The shortest distance between two hearts
Is a conversation