Every year I take a road trip to clear my mind and reset my equilibrium ~ for me, there's nothing better, nothing more relaxing than driving some off-the-beaten-path road and listening to music. One such trip included driving through the night on some forgotten street, and in the early hours of the new day -long before the sun would make its appearance- 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' by Bruce Spingsteen started playing on the radio ...
Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes ...
It wasn't a highway, and the street wasn't alive that night, but -as strange as that may sound- the song dispelled some of the lonely feeling that I hadn't been able to shake ~
The Ghost of Tom Joad
Bruce Springsteen
Men walking 'long the railroad tracks
Going someplace, there's no going back
Highway patrol choppers coming up over the ridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretching 'round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleeping in the cars in the southwest
No home, no job, no peace, no rest
Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Searching for the ghost of Tom Joad
He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag
Preacher lights up a butt and he takes a drag
Waiting for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
You got a one-way ticket to the promised land
You got a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand
Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock
Bathing in the city's aqueduct
Well the highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Waiting on the ghost of Tom Joad
Now Tom said, "Mom, wherever there's a cop beating a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me, Mom, I'll be there
Wherever somebody's fighting for a place to stand
Or a decent job or a helping hand
Wherever somebody's struggling to be free
Look in their eyes, Ma, and you'll see me" Yeah!
The highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad
Songwriters: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing
For non-commercial use only.
No comments:
Post a Comment