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Artist: Bruce Hornsby and the Range
Track: The Way It Is

Lyrics
Standing in line, marking time
Waiting for the welfare dime
'Cause they can't buy a job
The man in the silk suit hurries by
As he catches the poor old ladies' eyes
Just for fun he says, "get a job"

That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
Ah, but don't you believe them

Said, hey little boy you can't go where the others go
'Cause you don't look like they do
Said, hey old man how can you stand
To think that way
Did you really think about it
Before you made the rules?

He said, "son
That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
Ah, but don't you believe them"

Oh yeah

(That's just the way it is)

(That's just the way it is) well, they passed a law in '64
To give those who ain't got a little more
But it only goes so far
Because the law don't change another's mind
When all it sees at the hiring time
Is the line on the color bar, no, no

That's just the way it is
And some things will never change
That's just the way it is
That's just the way it is, it is, it is, it is
Full Lyrics and Meaning
Genius Lyrics
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The Way It Is
Bruce Hornsby’s second single and biggest hit, “The Way It Is,” a song about the civil rights era, reached #1 in the US in late 1986. It was also a top 30 hit in several other
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The way it is - remastered
Standing in line, marking time / Waiting for the welfare dime / 'Cause they can't buy a job / The man in the silk suit hurries by / As he catches the poor old lady's eyes / Just
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – Down the Road Tonight
[Verse 1] / There's a place / A local roadside shack / A poor man's Paris with parking in the back / There's a girl there / She knows how to unwind / She don't talk much but she
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – Every Little Kiss
[Verse 1] / Way out here, working on the docks / Everyone sees the long day through / But what would I do without the nights / And the phone, and the chance just to talk to you
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The Way It Is Samples
See all of “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range’s samples
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The Road Not Taken
Down in the southwest Virginia town of Richlands / I fell in love with an Appalachian girl / She lived in a long line of little row houses / On the side of an old strip mining hill
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The Way It Is Samples
See all of “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range’s samples, covers, remixes, interpolations and live versions
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – Mandolin Rain
Mandolin Rain was a song from Bruce Hornsby and the Range’s debut album The Way It Is. The song peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The Way It Is Interpolations
See all of “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range’s interpolations
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The Valley Road
“The Valley Road” is the second track and first single from 1988’s Scenes From the Southside. Like many songs by the band, it’s socio-political in nature and details a scenario
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The Wild Frontier
Here I am / I'm in a gaseous haze / Ten lanes and tall boys / Going both ways / El Dorado riding on the fringe / Aztec princes take revenge (take revenge) / This ain't my style
2Pac (Ft. Talent) – Changes
“Changes” is Pac’s timely meditation on race, class and politics. The piano and chorus are sampled from “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. To see annotations on this
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The River Runs Low
The rain held back again / Haven't felt a drop since you went away / Outside of town, the hills are brown / I guess way out there you'd call 'em golden / Lines outside the welfare
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – Across the River
Well, she moved back around here / Thirty-five weeks ago today / Oh, down the lane / Well, at night she walks on the banks / And remembers how she dreamed of rowing away / And how
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The valley road - remastered 2003
Sometimes I lead, sometimes I follow / This time I'll go where she wants me to go / She said maybe today, maybe tomorrow / Deep in the woods down the low valley road / While no one
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – I Will Walk With You
A strong man feels weak in the still heat of the day / Nothing is black and white, just a hazy gray / There's a long lonesome sound in the distance calling back to me / You look
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The Old Playground
Walking on the sidewalk, roundball under my arm / Everybody knows how you play is who you are / Walking down the road, looking for a game or two / The real moves come through, no
Chevy Chase – The Way It Is
Standing in a bookstore line / Waiting for the bell to chime / So you can go to class / Dancing in your underwear / Taking air conditioner repair / So you can get a job / Greendale
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – On the Western Skyline
[Verse 1] / About this time of evening, out by the bay / They turn the road lights on the bridge / Well, a diesel rolls in silhouette, eastbound / Lovers glad the sun has set / [
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – Stander on the Mountain
And he stands at the banquet room bar / Looking over the crowd / The reunion band playing too loud / And he sees his fellow old star / Looks him up and down / Sees a little of
Cory Wong & Metropole Orkest (Ft. Cody Fry) – The Way It Is - Live
[Verse 1] / Standing in line, marking time / Waiting all day for the welfare dime / 'Cause they can't buy a job / While the man in the silk suit hurries by / As he catches the poor
Bruce Hornsby – The Changes
The scene is set, everybody's in place - / Two chairs filled for every five gone to waste / The pantsuit girl gave me a nasty gaze / Said, "Play that on your own time." / I walk to
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – Look Out Any Window
While other songs from 1988’s Scenes from the Southside are described as short stories set in the South, “Look Out Any Window” is more like a critical essay about the devastating
E-40 – Things'll Never Change Samples
See all of “Things'll Never Change” by E-40’s samples, covers, remixes, interpolations and live versions
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The Red Plains
Four walls I built one winter / She came to share my name / For years we lived as lovers on the open plains / Far off the heat wave shimmers / Pipelines and the gasoline / One day
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – The Long Race
[Verse 1] / It's a hazy winter's day / And I'm staring out on the southland / In the twilight distance on the bay / My mind sees you running through the marshland / [Pre-Chorus
Bruce Hornsby and the Range – Barren Ground
There were people living in a green valley / Found a way to make a lot of money / Made the green turn gradually gray / They figured they could do whatever they wanted / Everything
Polo G – Wishing For a Hero Samples
See all of “Wishing For a Hero” by Polo G’s samples, covers, remixes, interpolations and live versions
Lil B – Hip Hops Alive
The sample for this entire song, including the chorus is taken from a song called “The Way It Is” from Bruce Hornsby’s 1986 album of the same name. Knowing that Lil B reps the
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AZ Lyrics
Bruce Hornsby - The Way It Is Lyrics
Bruce Hornsby "The Way It Is": Standing in line, marking time Waiting for the welfare dime 'Cause they can't buy a job The man in t...
Bruce Hornsby - Every Little Kiss Lyrics
Bruce Hornsby "Every Little Kiss": Way out here, working on the docks Everyone sees the long day through Well, what would I do without...
Genius Albums
The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby and the Range
Get all the lyrics to songs on The Way It Is and join the Genius community of music scholars to learn the meaning behind the lyrics.
Scenes From the Southside by Bruce Hornsby and the Range
Get all the lyrics to songs on Scenes From the Southside and join the Genius community of music scholars to learn the meaning behind the lyrics.
A Night on the Town by Bruce Hornsby and the Range
Get all the lyrics to songs on A Night on the Town and join the Genius community of music scholars to learn the meaning behind the lyrics.
Genius Artists
Bruce Hornsby and the Range
Get all the lyrics to songs by Bruce Hornsby and the Range and join the Genius community of music scholars to learn the meaning behind the lyrics.
Bruce Hornsby
Get all the lyrics to songs by Bruce Hornsby and join the Genius community of music scholars to learn the meaning behind the lyrics.
Genius Q&A
Q:Who wrote “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range?
“The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range was written by Bruce Hornsby.
Q:When did Bruce Hornsby and the Range release “The Way It Is”?
Bruce Hornsby and the Range released “The Way It Is” on April 1, 1986.
Q:When did Bruce Hornsby and the Range release The Way It Is?
Bruce Hornsby and the Range released The Way It Is on April 1, 1986.
Q:Who wrote “Down the Road Tonight” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range?
“Down the Road Tonight” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range was written by John Hornsby & Bruce Hornsby.
Q:Who wrote “The Way It Is (Bruce Hornsby & The Range)” by Adron?
“The Way It Is (Bruce Hornsby & The Range)” by Adron was written by Bruce Hornsby and the Range.
Q:When did Bruce Hornsby and the Range release “The Valley Road”?
Bruce Hornsby and the Range released “The Valley Road” in April 1988.
Q:What is the most popular song by Bruce Hornsby and the Range?
The most popular song by Bruce Hornsby and the Range is “The Way It Is” with a total of 92K page views.
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AZ Artists
Bruce Hornsby Lyrics
Bruce Hornsby Lyrics. sort by album sort by song. album: "The Way It Is" (1986). (with THE RANGE). Bruce Hornsby - The Way It Is album cover ... (with THE RANGE).
MusixMatch Lyrics
Bruce Hornsby feat. The Range - The Way It Is translation in Italian
Italian translation of lyrics for The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby feat. The Range. Standing in line, marking time Waiting for the welfare dime ′Cause they can't buy a job Th...
Bruce Hornsby feat. The Range - Down the Road Tonight Lyrics
Lyrics for Down the Road Tonight by Bruce Hornsby feat. The Range. There′s a place A local roadside shack A poor man's Paris with a parking lot in the back T...
Bruce Hornsby feat. The Range - Every Little Kiss Lyrics
Lyrics for Every Little Kiss by Bruce Hornsby feat. The Range. Way out here, working on the docks Everyone sees the long day through Now what would I do ...
Bruce Hornsby feat. The Range - Mandolin Rain Lyrics
Lyrics for Mandolin Rain by Bruce Hornsby feat. The Range. The song came and went, like the times that we spent Hiding out from the rain under the ca...
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Shazam Lyrics
Bruce Hornsby & The Range on Shazam
∙ “The Way It Is” was sampled in E-40's “Things'll Never Change,” Snoop Dogg's “Can't Say Goodbye,” and 2Pac's Grammy-nominated “Changes.” ∙ In 1987, the band ...
The Valley Road - Bruce Hornsby & The Range
Listen to The Valley Road by Bruce Hornsby & The Range, 170365 Shazams, featuring on As Heard on TV, and Bruce Hornsby Essentials Apple Music playlists.