If I had let my eyes decide

I once met an old man who was wrinkled, white, and grey
If I had let my eyes decide, I would have walked away
His stories were of adventure, and mystery and love
And his crows feet grew from praying to the sky and Son above
the whisky on his breath keeps him sober through the day
if I had let my eyes decide, I'd have had too much to say

I once met a woman with stains on all her clothes,
If I had let my eyes decide, I would have gone back home
She told me of the tears that have soaked her tattered skirt,
Her child is at school, and then comes home to sleep in dirt
The coins that line her pockets feed the lining in her stomach
If I had let my eyes decide, I'd have thought quite little of it

I once met a boy with colors on his arm
If I had let my eyes decide, I'd have thought he meant me harm
He told me that his pictures were the still frames of his life
That gave him strength and character for his future, Christian wife
His hope is just to love the ones the world chose to ignore
If I had let my eyes decide, I would have expected more

I once met a girl with a sweater for each season
If I had let my eyes decide, I'd have not asked for a reason
She told me that each sweater hides the scars on both her wrists
And her entourage of friends conceals the only one she'll miss
And soon she won't need sweaters, or even a change of clothes
If I had let my eyes decide, I would have never known

I meet so many people but we never truly meet
I jump to my conclusions as I pass them on the street
I'd never ask them questions, I'd simply just assume
That the way the look must dictate who they were straight from the womb
If I had let my eyes decide, how would I see within
How can I find the heart of man, if all I see is skin