Late last night I awoke in a dream
To the sound of a voice that was almost a scream, oh, oh, oh
From out of the city and out of the street
Out where the wind hits the cold concrete, oh, oh, oh
It's cold outside, darkness your enemy
No place to hide the voice said this to me
In your doorways I have shivered
In your alleys I have gone to ground
But I will be delivered
Someday I will be mercy bound
I dreamed again it was west L.A.
On a crowded street on a hot summer day
She was alone, three months late and beginning to show
In a midriff blouse she would soon outgrow
She had no one to call and no way home
And in my mind, I knew I'd seen myself
But in our blindness, always seems like someone else
There I was a rag a bone
A remnant in your lost and found
I was for once truly alone
Longing to be mercy bound
And I knew that I would wander as child
In the forest till they found me
And I called out to them but I could not penetrate
The silence all around me
And when I wake I know you'll comfort me
Oh I won't sleep again for an eternity
But some will never dream again
From sleeping on the ground
And the coming of the morning light
Will not see them mercy bound
Oh, please don't stop your dreaming
Someday we'll all be mercy bound, mercy bound