Story Behind The Song

First character is a man who has played by the rules & married his high school sweetheart, had 2 wonderful kids, & had a great job. As his company went under, his career unraveled, followed by his wive's unfaithfulness and ultimately divorce. Second character is a mother of 2 who had an accident & became partially paralyzed at a young age; who loses control of her children through government entitlements and street crime.

Song Description

A broken american dream...A slice of life in the dark corners when bad luck & misfortune finds it hard to see the light of day.

Lyrics

Cruel World
Music and lyrics by
John Seitz

Every day on the streets, struggling hard to compete
Enough goes 'round for everyone but him

On skids with a past to blame.
Had a career and a home once
she left him for wealthy romance

A sensitive man wouldn't hurt to try
Now he's learned it don't pay to be nice

In a Cruel Cruel World
You gotta fight for your rights or
Blown away in the night.
In a Cruel Cruel World
There's a war goin' on
Fought without guns
In a Cruel Cruel World. A Cruel World..

All day on the phone
Pulling for her kids
One's in jail, one's in a foster home
They were young when she was hospitalized

In a Cruel Cruel World
You gotta fight for your rights or
Blown away in the night.
In a Cruel Cruel World
There's a war goin' on
Fought without guns
In a Cruel Cruel World. A Cruel World..

Whatever happened to even breaks
Where did they go, where are they found
Is it too late for a sign
In a hardened place where the troubled fall
And cry out in the night to be free

In a Cruel Cruel World
You gotta fight for your rights or
Blown away in the night.
In a Cruel Cruel World
There's a war goin' on
Fought without guns

In a Cruel Cruel World. A Cruel World...........