Escape the Clouds - In Her Eyes (Live) Lyrics

The girl didn't know where her mother went for sixteen hours a day
At six years old she couldn't understand what it took to earn a living wage
Every night mother staggered home reeking of sweat and machine oil
Her back bent more every passing day of industrial age toil

In her eyes, strength and defiance
In her eyes, a glimmer of hope
That her daughter would live
In a world that would give
Her the chances she'd never known

In firelight and shadows, the women labored until their very bones hurt
Meanwhile in a ramshackle store, the girl helped her father in his work
Among a sea of parts and springs, he brought timepieces to life
For the golden men watching on high, it was a reason to keep him alive

One day, smoke rose in the distance Mother never came home that night
The old factory had burned and its locked doors trapped scores of workers inside
Its owners offered the girl and her father only weak platitudes
She stood by his side as he let out a cry that ripped the heavens and his heart loose

In her eyes, strength and defiance
In her eyes, a glimmer of hope
That she could someday live
In a world that would give
Her chances her parents had never known

Alone in the store the young woman shuddered and held fast against her despair
Walls of clocks ticked off every moment her parents would no longer share
Among them hung an old picture of two refugees' first steps in a strange new land
Fleeing war and their fears with nothing except the little girl who clutched their hands

In their eyes she saw the meaning
Of the words they'd said to her that day
"In your eyes we see the future
And we'd give our all to give it to you"

In her eyes, strength and defiance
In her eyes, a glimmer of hope