My train of thought was broken by a sudden burst of laughter
Something badly needed to brighten
up the chores
Seemed old mrs. bailey had accidentally fell
In the water being used to
scrub the floors
Now mrs. bailey was the meanest matron at the home
She believed in lots
of work with little play
And we laughed till we bent double
Though we knew we'd get in
trouble
But trouble's all we had at evening shade
Now evening shade was where they claim
to teach you understanding
To teach you love and keep you off the streets
And all the kids
that live here are said to be a problem
Juvenile delinquents so to speak
But
understanding isn't learned from punishment and anger
An iron has no gentle touch and love
ain't learned from hate
The reason we were here is 'cause we had no one who cared
But they
cared even less at evening shade
Little susan bradley, one night had wet her bed
Mrs. bailey took the razor strap and beat her half to death
And i knew that something must be
done to put an end to this
And so i started talking plans with the older kids
Plans
were that joe johnson would steal the kerosene
And i would get some matches when nobody
seen
Beckie adams would make sure the kids were all outside
Billy watson would look out
for the evil eye
Now mrs. bailey took a nap at three o'clock each day
We knew that
she'd be a'sleeping as the plans got underway
Now that its all over and the sun is going
down
There's no evening shade 'cause we burned it to the ground
