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| FHWA > Infrastructure > Library > Highway History > Some Road Songs Lyrics #8 | |||
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How many roads lead me from you?
How many highways lead me to
A place away from yesterday
When our love was new?
How many roads lead me from you?
There's a detour sign
On the road that winds
Out on the broad highway.
But the place for me is
The sign I see
T-U-L-S-A Straight ahead.
I'm gettin' bugged driving up and down the same old strip
I gotta find a new place where the kids are hip.
My buddies and me are getting real well known
Yeah, the bad guys know us and they leave us alone
I get around
Get around round round, I get around.
Four wheels turnin', two hearts burnin'
We go runnin' wild.
Gonna make a million memories
For every hundred thousand miles
Learnin' everything
I'll ever need to know about life and love
In the cab of my truck.
Funny how no matter where I run,
Round every bend I only see,
Just how far I haven't come.
Every mile, a memory;
Every song, another scene,
From some old movie going back in time - you and me.
Every day, a page turned down; every night, a lonesome sound,
Like a freight train rollin' through my dreams:
Every mile, a memory.
Ain't no tellin' where the wind might blow
Free and easy down the road I go
Livin' life like a Sunday stroll
Free and easy down the road I go
Free and easy down the road I go
I'm gonna find that long stretch of highway
Where no one knows my name
Where as long as the sky just goes on
And it's never the same,
A modern day drifter don't ever complain.
Drivin' on nine
Looking for one thirty
Maybe I passed it
Go another mile...
I'll sure look pretty
In Carson City
Walking down the isle.
Well I'm a haulin', only 700 miles to go
Yeah I'm a haulin', I put the hammer down and let it roll
My baby's callin', sayin' baby when ya gonna come home
Well I'm an independent trucker... a mother lovin,
overloaded owner operator just a tearin' up a two-lane road.
Twenty-five minutes past quitting time
Seven of us crammed into that truck of mine
Paying no attention to them highway signs
Going 90 mile an hour toward that county line
Quick sack, 12 pack, back again.
I spent last night in the arms
Of a girl in Louisiana
And though I'm out on the highway
My thoughts are still with her.
This ol' highway's getting longer
Seems there ain't no end in sight
To sleep would be best, but I just can't afford to rest
I've got to ride in Denver tomorrow night.
She was born to a mother trucker
Raised behind the wheel,
So you can blame it on the highway
For the way she can't sit still.
She says life is like a windshield
It ain't no rear view mirror.
The only way to get where you're goin'
Is find that higher gear.
Wreck out on the highway, rain falling down
Lord, he must have fell asleep at the wheel.
There's a number of people just standing around
Lord, I can't condemn the fear that they feel.
Three thirty in the morning
Not a soul in sight.
The city's lookin' like a ghost town
On a moonless summer night.
Raindrops on the windshield
There's a storm movin' in.
He's headin' back from somewhere
That he never should have been
And the thunder rolls
I can hear that highway calling
As I watch the sunrise crawling
Across her shoulder.
This is usually goodbye
And yet those words
I just can't find here as I hold her.
Well, I feel like I'm running
Down a dead end road.
Yes, I feel like I'm running down
That dead end road.
I need someone to tell me
Which way I ought to go
I've got the moon over my shoulder,
I'm not a looking back,
I've got the world in my headlights,
And it just feels right.
There's a breeze that blows in through my hair
The colors in the desert air
Nothing in this world compares.
Now, take the wheel, the highway's clear
I got the throttle, now baby you steer.
Let's squeeze every drop out of this machine.
You spin the wheel and I roll the bones.
Never let them think they've got us down
Cause we're already down.
We'll hide away from the sun all day
The chaser of lights will lead our way
To heaven or the highway out of town.
A '69 Ford and a new pair of shoes
Left from Boise, Idaho 95
So I was just in time to miss
The 5 o'clock news
Velvet black Interstate is something to feel
$5.99 and a stone cold meal.
I've got 200 more miles of rain asphalt and light before I sleep
But there'll be no warm sheets or welcoming arms to fall into tonight.
It always seemed to take more time
On the ride home from Canada
From the white and frozen fields
To the wet and soggy world
That seemed so empty five hundred miles down the road.
42 more miles
This stuff it cramps my style.
Broke down on the side of the road
A thousand flies a buzzin'.
Sittin' spittin' and cussin'
Sittin' on top of our load.
If I ever get out of the hole
If I ever get down the road
I got 42 miles to go.
The devil's got a hot rod Ford
Jesus got a brand new Cadillac.
The devil he sent me off the road
Sent me 60 feet below.
Jesus turned around and he came back.
I heard the tires scream on that Cadillac
Don't let me drink and drive
Down the highway of life.
This new four-lane sure changed Franklin County
When it replaced the road I traveled way back when.
A friend told me my home town of Roxie
Is around this curve north of exit 10.
The road seems so much longer when you're alone...
This never ending highway takes me on
And if I view outside the white lines
I might lose my way.
Do whatever it will take to get up
And get out of here
You could rot sitting forever
Waiting for the coast to clear.
Who needs Plan A when you got Plan B
And if that don't work then you got Plan C
Let's take the road, but not on track
Prettiest trails are off the path.
Let's go!
Moon over the freeway catch us as we ride
We just left the city, left it far behind
Silhouettes of palm trees, airplanes cross the moon
Living in the moment of the girl who left too soon
It's warm, my favorite song comes on
Let's roll the windows down and drive.
I hit the highway
In a pink RV with stars on the ceiling
Lived like a gypsy
Six strong hands on the steering wheel...
And I'm getting it back on the road now
But I'm taking the long way around.
My windows down, and there's a feeling in the air.The wind blows through my hair as the moon shines on.
I take one last look back, and my mirror is so clear.
The voices that I hear are finally gone.
Sometimes these desert roads just ain't what they seem.
She keeps moving on, but she's still waiting for me.
Sometimes I can't move, but I just can't sit still,
So I keep holding on to the dream and to the wheel.
Head up on the highway, just as fast as I could go
I rode through the night, and halfway through the day
I had no direction
I didn't even want to know where I was going.
The only thing I knew was that I had to get away.
I've been eight days on the road.
Travelin' through the night...
There ain't no town, there ain't no rest tonight.
Comin' home, and I won't be long (Eight days on the road)
Sugar lady, don't you do me no wrong (Eight days on the road)
Ridin' on the highway and I'm outta luck (Eight days on the road)
Ridin' on the freeway, where the lights are dim,
My chances of relaxin' are gettin' mighty slim,
I close my eyes and wonder how long it's gonna be,
I know I've got to travel, but the highway's killing me.
Don't think I'll ever learn to slow down
Rev on, you'll still be here and I'll be gone.
She was only a waitress in a highway caf´,
Poured coffee from dusk until dawn.
But she was heart broken twenty-four hours a day
For she longed for her trucker who'd gone.
When he'd park his great semi off Route 64
She'd blush with a sweet little sigh,
For at half past eleven he'd walk in the door
And he'd order her corned beef on rye.
I'm goin' to Chicago; that's the last place my baby stayed
I'm packin' up my bags, gonna leave this old town right away.
I've got to find that girl if I have to hitch hike 'round the world
Chicago City Limits, that's what the sign on the highway reads.
I'm gonna keep movin' till I get to that street corner 6th and 3rd
I've got to find that girl if I have to hitch hike 'round the world.
Took off running in the middle of the night
Look out, baby, I'm going on a little ride
Well, I'm flying through Georgia
I'm with you, man, I'm just a moving on.
It's a beautiful scenery, a beautiful world
Lost in between the lines on the road.
It's calling loved ones who remain the same
As we try to stay in the game.
Maps point in the direction we must go.
Hope it's not yet time to go home.
Over asphalt, grass, steel, sood, water and sand.
Learning lessons, listening to the land.
Trouble on the turnpike
Trouble on the road
Trouble on the turnpike
Too big a load.
The freeway is my song.
Now highway nights,
Red tail lights
Lead my love light love.
Highway nights,
Freeway sights
To this eagle I belong.
It rolls me on.
In an old pickup truck, with his hat pulled down
He drives them old Montana backroads
Remembering half-forgotten times, and wondering where it's gone
And if he can still carry the load.
And all across the states you see the tractors and the plows
Clearing out the roads
And the bridges north and south
Something they did learn
And I just don't seem to know
How to clear a passage
And shake out all the snow.
You're on a one way road to Hell
With every step that you been taking now
You're finding out you can't turn around.
Get into the car and buckle up good
I'll get us some gas and check under the hood
I got me a map and some CDs to play
So everything's set, up up and away
We're going on a road trip
Start counting all the different license plates
We're going on a road trip
We're crossing all of these United States...
So much to see along the Interstate
We're going on a road trip
From the Verrazano to the Golden Gate.
Hitchhiking on the road to Rio
Trying to flag a ride in an automobile
Why don't you stop and let me ride
I'll boogie on down the line.
I was heading home on 65
Somewhere around Kentucky
The CB rang from a bobtail rig
That's a rollin' on like thunder.
Well I answered him and he asked me
Aren't you from out in Tulsa?
No, but might'a seen me there,
I just dropped a load of salsa.
Well - the last thing I remember, Doc, I started to swerve
And then I saw the Jag slide into the curve.
I know I'll never forget that horrible sight.
I guess I found out for myself that everyone was right
"Won't come back from Dead Man's Curve."
They hide behind the bushes on the side of the road
Waiting for their next writing episode.
They sharpen up their pencils and straighten their pad.
They can't wait to punch it out to think they're bad.
You don't stand a chance no matter what you drive
And when he pulls you over, don't you give him no jive...
Well I push my load across the land
Livin' the life of a travelin' man
Dusk brings down another day
Gonna swallow up time and throw it away
Zero to sixty, she's the next big thing
They tell me it's a steal
Drive all night just to ease the pain
Don't look away
Stay steady at the wheel.
I hope the day will be a lighter highway
For friends are found on every road
Can you ever think of any better way
For the lost and weary travelers to go.
Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
you had a busy day today.
We're traveling along
I'm not in a rush
I can take my time
Got no place to be
Now I'm feeling great
On the Interstate
Just my pick up truck and me.
You may bury my body, down by the highway side
You may bury my body, ooh, down by the highway side
So my old evil spirit, can catch a Greyhound bus and ride.
Mr. Highway Man, please don't block the road
Please don't block the road
'Cause she's reachin' a cold one hundred and I'm booked and I got to go.
I've been down the two coast lines
I've traveled everywhere
From Portland East and Portland West
And back along the line
I'm goin' now to a place that's best
That old hometown of mine.
Eight more miles and Louisville
Will come into my view
Eight more miles on this old road
And I'll never more be blue.
As close as I'll ever get to heaven
Is makin' speed up old eighty-seven
Of that hard Amarillo Highway
I'm on a lonely road
I can't see the way ahead...
Don't know just why I'm here
Don't know just how I strayed
The road behind me is long and dark
I'm on a foggy highway.
I don't know what woke me up
Maybe a country song or a big truck passing by.
I could hear mama and papa talking
Papa said something then mama began to cry.
No more words then, just soft sobs
And my head began to throb
I just lay there playing dog breathing slow and deep
They thought I was asleep.
So drive 'till the road runs out
And the green water rolls
Think you've gone as far as you can go
Well the party's just getting started on river road.
I go back but I can't go home
The river is up and the road is closed
And there's no telephone at my mother's house
And all the lights are down on the rural route.
As a caf´ just off I-65
I seen a man and a woman and a baby child.
They were laughing, smiled at me when they went to pay...
It hit a little too close to home
And I'm so far from you, yeah...
These are the payloads
Hammer down on the floor
These are the restless roads
Every one a war
But in the flashing lines
I see a love supreme
Beyond my wildest dreams.
I recall that cold November day in the icy winter
When they came to tear our cabin down to put the highway through.
I can still see Grandpa Nathan standing in the road.
"Before you tear it down there's something you oughta know.
Handmade nails and homemade love built this cabin stronger
Than all the steel machines you brought to tear it down..."
I remember how my grandpa's words got through to everyone
And you know they never even tried to tear it down.
They built that highway clear across the other side of town.
We are driving on the Autobahn.
In front of us is a wide valley.
The sun is shining with glittering rays.
The driving strip is a grey track
White stripes, green edge.
He was standin' by the highway
With a sign that just said "Mother"
When he heard a driver comin'
'Bout a half a mile away.
Then he held the sign up higher
Where no decent soul could miss it.
It was 10 degrees or colder
Down by Boulder Dam that day.
She stood at my door with a bag from Krispy Kreme.
She said, hot doughnuts now, I was in a dream...
I fell in love out on Highway 1
In my midnight world with my doughnut girl.
Out on the road, I can't look back
I-95 is like a racetrack
Got to Carolina, the sun broke through
Roll down the top, there's nothing but blue.
And the lights of L.A. County
Look like diamonds in the sky
When you're driving through the hours
With an old friend at your side.
And me I stand here
At the last filling station
While the wind moans a dirge
To a coyote's cry.
And I'm back in my car
And I'm out on the highway
Goin' hard
Goin' fast
Goin' wild.
Now I was driving down a West Texas highway
I saw a hitchhiker and his thumb was pointing my way.
He didn't look suspicious and he didn't look any too clean.
I put on my brakes and I opened my door
I could tell he was a bum by the muddy boot he wore.
He said I'm going down to Haskell
Got a woman down in Abilene.
I been down around Houston, Texas
Where the sun shines most of the time.
I been drivin' about six hours
Tryin' to reach that Arkansas line.
But Texarkana's an hour ahead
And I got to keep my wheels rolling
But woman you're always on my mind
Twenty-four hours at a time.
There's just one place I can't stay.
Memories of your love still linger on
And the time has finally come
For me to pack my bags and walk away.
Here me say....
Take the highway.
I was born to take the highway
I was born to chase a dream.
Any road at all is my way
Any place is where I've been
Anything is what I've seen.
You're not a hit and run driver, no, no
Racing away
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway.
I love the man beside me
We love the open road.
No phones till Friday/
Far from the overkill
Far from the overload.
I went down 13 Highway
Driving a brand new V-8 Ford...
Don't the highway look so lonesome
After the sun done gone down.
You know, you're all alone by yourself
There ain't nobody else around.
Thank god for the radio and convenience store coffee.
Three hours you've been on the road and it should have been dawn.
Northbound to Delaware, you'll pass the temple where
Our lady of the highways stands looking on.
Blessed be the children and the strangers
We are all together, we are all alone.
All the sleepless dreamers
All the restless angels
Bless all the wanderers far away from home.
Going nowhere fast, watching cars go past
Why won't the snow melt faster.
This trip is a disaster, 16-hour drive.
Just played in some dive.
New York to nowhere, we're never gonna get there.
It's all the same old town with a different name.
That's fine by me.
There's only one place that I wanna be
Southbound on I-5 and windows down and music on the stereo.
On the road again, goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things that I may never see again,
And I can't wait to get on the road again.
Livin' on the road, my friend,
It's gonna keep you free and clean.
You talk about the weather
And you grin about the rooms.
Phone calls long distance
To tell how you've been.
Forget about the losses, you exaggerate the wins
And when you stop to let 'em know
You've got it down.
It's just another town along the road.
Rollin' rollin' rollin' down the interstate highway
Goin' goin' goin' almost anywhere.
Me I'm drifting home again
Headlights in my eyes
Fighting sleep with windows down
Worn out from long goodbyes
Night driver drifting home again.
Rockets in the tail lights
Red burns into night
Rolling out of sight
Turn this car around
I'm goin' back.
I woke up one morning in November
And I realized I love you.
It's not your headlights in front
Your tailpipe, or the skylight above you.
It's the way you cling to the road
When the wind tries to shove you.
I'd never go riding away
And come back home without you.
Runnin' all the red lights, ridin' the white line...
Red lights in the mirror, danger on the bend...
Gotta take a detour, there's a roadblock up ahead...
Well I ain't goin' down that big long lonesome road,
Pretty baby, don't you hear me talkin'.
No I ain't goin' down that big road by myself.
If I can't carry you baby,
I'm gonna get me someone else.
Any old time you got your radio tuned in
Baby by your side
And your pretty little cool ride,
It feels so good.
You got the top pulled in
Wind in your hair
Destination, you don't care.
Guess the road is in my blood
'Cause I'm my daddy's kid.
Just have to learn how to let me go
Just like my momma did...
I hear it callin', baby
Sounds so sweet and plain.
I gotta go
'Cause the road's my middle name.
I'm hangin' up my walking shoes
Gonna bid farewell to them travelin' blues.
No more chasing setting suns
And living on the run.
Driving down the highway all alone,
Just went by the last road going home.
I still hear the sound of rain
Falling on your window through the phone.
Drivin' around the country
Ramblin' all the time
Playing this old guitar
For a dollar and a dime.
Lord, won't you help me
Before I lose my mind.
Being on the road without a friend
Will make you feel life's loneliness...
Another midnight on the highway
Houston in the distance.
Seems I'm always leaving love behind
Singing along with someone.
Whose soul is on the radio
Sounds like me and the good ol' boy
Are two of a kind.
I'm driving past a field of red poppies
Hiding my left arm from the sun.
I wouldn't think of stopping now
I'm on my way to see you...
Driving sixty miles an hour
Isn't nearly fast enough.
Well a poor boy took his father's bread
And started down the road.
Took all he had and started down the road
Going out in this world, where God only knows
And that'll be the way to get along.
I've got fevered dreams, mighty plans
I need a black top road, I need a wheel in my hands.
So long Arizona, so long desert sands
I need to face the promise of the Promised Land.
I will answer the wind
I will leave with the tide
I'll be out on the road
Every chance I can ride.
No matter how far, no matter how free
I'll be along if you'll wait for me.
Yeah, Albuquerque's never felt colder
One mile higher
All the way to Boulder.
Oklahoma City always looks pretty
'Cause it's halfway home.
Yes, windshield wipers, broken white lines
Lord, don't let me lose my mind.
23 days to Tennessee time
And I'm back to you.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, life's so sweet right here in the passenger seat.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah, life's so sweet.
When I look to my left, see his suntanned hands,
His muddy river hair and his thousand acre plans.
I'm all shook up like a quarter in a can.
Ain't life sweet in the passenger seat, yeah.
Riding on the cycling road
Green green grass surrounding me
Wind is blowing through the trees
Sun is bright and I feel happy.
U.S. highway from north to south
It's history breathing
Get out from under the gun
Drive down Highway 61.
I got ten more miles to go
I got nine, eight, seven, six
I got five more miles to go
Now over the hill just around the bend
Although my feet are tired I can't lose my stride.
No solid ground, boys,
I have to hit that road again.
Wind back to sweet ol' Chicago
To mix with my home town friends.
I'm running due southbound on a string of bad luck
Trying to catch a ride on northbound truck.
Had a bit of trouble getting out of town.
Started getting the feeling no one wants me around.
A farmer and a teacher, a hooker and a preacher,
Ridin' on a midnight bus, bound for Mexico.
One was headed for vacation, one for higher education, and
Two of them were searchin' for lost souls.
That driver never, ever saw the stop sign,
And eighteen-wheelers can't stop on a dime.
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway.
Why there's not four of them, heaven only knows.
I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you.
It's what you leave behind you when you go.
Two highways lay before me,
Which one would I choose.
Down one lane I'd find happiness,
And down the other I would lose.
There is no one that I can trust,
I must decide alone.
My decision is an awful one,
Which road will take me home.
Well, it's a long way to Richmond, rollin' north on Ninety-Five
With a redhead ridin' shotgun and a pistol by my side,
Tearin' down that highway like a modern day Bonnie and Clyde.
If I try to stay in one place too long,
My mind starts singing that highway song.
She was driving last Friday on her way to Cincinnati
On a snow white Christmas Eve...
She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention
She was going way too fast.
Before she knew it she was spinning on a thin black sheet of glass.
She saw both their lives flash before her eyes.
She didn't even have time to cry.
She was sooo scared
She threw her hands up in the air.
Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this all on my own.
When the sun comes out
There's nothing but green lights from here
Nothing but open roads.
You and I are gonna drive ourselves out of this town
In a 1989 black Mercedes Benz.
You said I was a back seat driver
You said I was the road-map reader
You said I was the driving license
On the road.
You said I was the hand-brake
You said I was the glove compartment
On the road.
I'm going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose.
L.A. is a great big freeway.
Put a hundred down and buy a car.
In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star
Weeks turn into years. How quick they pass
And all the stars that never were
Are parking cars and pumping gas
Do you know the way to San Jose?
Diesel power, eighteen wheels to rollin'
As I pull it on to the Interstate
I've got thirteen hours to make my destination...
Call me a prisoner of the highway
Driven on by my restless soul...
Imprisoned by the freedom of the road, yeah.
Lead me to an open road
And put me on the freeway.
Her name was Julie.
When she took me on a ride in her old Chevrolet
Straight into a dusty sundown,
I knew she was gonna make up one of her stories.
And then she couldn't believe that I told her
How much I love her lies and how much I love her game.
People put me down, say that I'm a fool
But I got news for them.
I ain't never going back to driving school...
Drivin' thunder, rollin' down the highway.
Just one way to go,
Hey hey, and that's my way.
I'm happy singing in a crowd.
The lights are bright, the music's loud.
I like to look in every face.
But out on the interstate
I can hear a soft voice calling,
Calling me to bring my guitar home.
That old white line is a friend of mine
And it's a good time we've been making.
Right now I'm rollin' down the open road
And the daylight will soon be breaking.
Thank God I'm on the road tonight
With this old hillbilly band.
We may not be good looking
But we sure get outta hand.
We was out in the sticks
Down highway six.
