In the world's mighty gallery of pictures
Hang scenes that are painted from life,
There's pictures of joy and of sorrow,
There's pictures of peace and of strife,
There's pictures of youth and of beauty
Old age and a blushing young bride.
All hang on the wall, but the saddest of all,
Is a picture from life's other side.

    chorus
    It's a picture from life's other side,
    Somebody has fell by the way;
    And a life has gone out with the tide
    That might have been happy one day;
    Some poor old mother at home
    Is watching and waiting alone,
    Just longing to hear from her loved ones so dear,
    It's a picture from life's other side.

The next scene is that of a gambler
Who lost all his money at play,
Draws his dead mother's ring from his finger
That she wore on her glad wedding day.
His last earthly treasure, he stakes it
Bows his head that his shame he might hide,
When they lifted his head, they found he was dead,
It's a picture from life's other side.

    chorus

The next scene is that of two brothers
Whose paths in life different ways led,
The one was a-living' in luxury
While the other one begged for his bread;
One night they met on a highway,
"Your money or your life" the thief cried;
Then he took with his knife, his own dear brother's life,
It's a picture from life's other side.

    chorus

The next scene is down by the river,
A heart-broken mother and child,
The old harbor lights stand and they shiver,
On an outcast that no one will save;
Perhaps she was once a good woman.
Somebody's darling and pride,
God help her, she leaps, and there's no one to weep,
It's a picture from life's other side.

    chorus