In the world's mighty gallery of pictures
Hang the scenes that are painted from life
There's pictures of love and of passion
Then 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 life's other side.
Just a picture from life's other side
Someone has fell by the way
A life has gone out with the tide
That might have been happy someday
There's a poor old mother at home
She's watching and waiting alone
Just longing to hear - from a loved one so dear
It's just a picture from life's other side.
The first scene is that of a gambler
Who had lost all his money at play
An' he draws his dead mother's ring from his finger
That she wore long ago on her wedding day
It's his last earthly treasure, but he stakes it
Then he bows his head that his shame he may hide
But, when they lifted his head - they found he was dead
That's just a picture from life's 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 shiver
On an outcast whom no one will save
And yet, she was once a true woman
She was somebody's darlin' and pride
God help her, she leaps - for there's no one to weep
It's just a picture from life's 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.
