Living Color

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Whatever happened to Carlton Bell? My best friend in the seventh grade We played our snare drums side by side In the middle school marchin' band Disney parade [Verse 2] Raised our money to ride the bus to Orlando Knockin' on doors up and down the street Sellin' those bars of the World's Finest Chocolate And splittin' every third one between him and me [Chorus] And his skin was black, and my skin was white And the sky was blue, and the future was bright And our blood ran red in both our veins And wе were lookin' at the world in living color [Verse 3] Hе moved away the first year of high school No phones, no internet so we just lost touch But I'd think about him every now and then in marchin' band Laughin' loud, windows down in the back row of the bus [Chorus] And his skin was dark, and my skin was light But all we saw was a friend in each other's eyes And our blood ran red in both our hearts And we were lookin' at the world in living color [Verse 4] So I did a little search and I found his picture I recognized his smile immediately He moved out west, raisin' kids, workin' in a factory Got sick, passed away in 2016 [Verse 5] Lookin' at his face as a grown man got me thinkin' How different life can be while so much stays the same His friends said he was a good man, loved his God and loved his family Did not surprise me that his good heart remained [Chorus] But his skin was black, and I wonder if my friend Felt judged and afraid in ways that I've never been And it weighs heavy on my heart, but then I think of where he is now In living color [Instrumental Break] [Verse 6] Well, I know these things are all way more complicated So much is so broken beyond fixing, it can seem And if I'm honest, I'm scared to even write and sing this song I don't wanna somehow say the wrong thing [Verse 7] But I was thinking, maybe if I told our story Maybe I could help someone remember and believe There's a lot of goodness and wonder left in this broken world Just like there was back then for Carlton and me [Chorus] And his skin was black, and my skin was white And the sky was blue, and our future was bright And the blood ran red in both our veins And we were lookin' at the world In living color