A Hand
A slow, warm blues built around a simple idea: kindness doesn't always need a reason, a reward, or even an explanation. Sometimes you stop. Sometimes you help. Sometimes you simply offer your hand.
Driven by gritty electric guitar, deep bass and the rich sound of Hammond organ, the song moves with an easy 12-bar blues groove while telling small stories of ordinary people helping one another along the way. At its heart is one rule worth remembering: never look down on somebody—unless you're bending down to help them back onto their feet.
A song about dignity, generosity, and passing along the kindness that somebody once showed you.
Music video
Lyrics
Saw a man beside the highway,
With his whole world in a sack,
Didn't ask him where he'd been,
Didn't need his story back.
I just pulled over beside him,
Said, “Friend, where you headed to?”
A hand is sometimes just a hand,
That's all it's gotta do.
A hand is sometimes just a hand,
Not taking, only giving,
A little help along the road
Can make this life worth living.
Don't look down on anybody,
That's one rule I try to keep—
Unless you're bending down beside them
To help them to their feet.
Lady counting out her pennies,
Groceries waiting in a line,
She was three or four dollars short,
I said, “Put that one with mine.”
She said, “Sir, I can't repay you.”
I said, “Ma'am, you already can—
When somebody else needs kindness,
Just remember this old hand.”
A hand is sometimes just a hand,
Not taking, only giving,
A little help along the road
Can make this life worth living.
Don't look down on anybody,
That's one rule I try to keep—
Unless you're bending down beside them
To help them to their feet.
I've been standing, I've been stumbling,
I've been both sides of that door,
I've had pockets full of nothing,
I've had plenty and some more.
And the hands that reached to catch me
Never asked what they would earn,
So whatever I've been given,
I just pass it on in turn.
You don't need to save the whole world,
You don't need some grand design,
Maybe someone's carrying twenty pounds
And you can carry nine.
Maybe all they need is company,
Maybe all they need is time—
You'd be surprised how far a little good
Can travel down the line.
If you're stronger, don't get taller
By making someone small,
There's no glory standing proudly
While another person falls.
We're all walking different highways,
But we're walking while we can,
And sooner or later every one of us
Might need somebody's hand.
A hand is sometimes just a hand,
Not taking, only giving,
A little help along the road
Can make this life worth living.
Don't look down on anybody,
That's one rule I try to keep—
Unless you're bending down beside them
To help them to their feet.
Yeah, a hand is sometimes just a hand...
No bargain and no plan.
And if I ever hit the ground,
Brother—
Just give me your hand.
