Highway One

I was born in a tragedy Grew up in a comedy My friends preached theology My neighbors philosophy And crooked were the ways I got used to I took a dime here, a dime there I headed out for anywhere Found myself a love affair And fled her in my underwear Staying was a thing I refused to And when the nights got dark and lonely It kind of confused me All these people, the poets and preachers Who tried to convince me Of their right and wrong And somehow tried to entomb me In their visions of where man's gone Well, I'll tell you what, he's out on Highway One I roamed the Eastern city Hungry and all gritty Chased by girls so pretty Feeling dandy and all witty Aching like a grape in the sunshine I took a pill here, a pill there I headed West somewhere Following the golden flare Muttering the Lord's Prayer Knowing it was all in my bloodline And when the nights got dark and lonely It kind of amused me That the right and wrong of the preachers Would never convince me To turn round, to go home, to repent To ask the Good Lord to see me When the prettiest thing was on And everybody's dancing on Highway One I joined the army in the fall Of '69 outside a mall I'd barely dodged a brawl When a sergeant came to call (Boys, ain't it time to commit soon?) I shot a man here, a man there I shot my bullets everywhere I inhaled the Holy Spirit's air Sitting in the Devil's chair Praying for that lonesome man on the moon And when the nights got dark and lonely It didn't surprise me That no poets and preachers there were trying to convince me That there were something wrong and something right To guide me When with peace at the end of a gun I smelt napalm and human flesh burning on Highway One I returned, I grew cold I got lost, was paroled I went home to grow old And withdrew, so I'm told But my friends still came to see me I spent a day here, a day there Two summers down in Delaware Sitting in a wheelchair Sweltering in the hot air Waiting for redemption to free me And when the nights got dark and lonely I thought of my father Would it be different if back then He just had bothered To talk 'bout all things past To talk 'bout my mother Well, it's easier thought than done When you're 'bout to exit Highway One Well, if Abe can be in Bob's dream Bob can be in mine Stealing lines from others Well, I'm guilty of that crime Praying that the Good Lord will pardon me I take a line here, a line there I take my lines from everywhere Burns, Baudelaire Dylan Thomas, old Voltaire Hoping nobody will sue me 'Cause when the nights get dark and lonely It's time to imagine All these men and women who so desperately Try to examine The nature of man and all end up Being so saddened When the mystery is undone And everybody's laughing out on Highway One --- Highway One - Johnny Red & the Prayerhouse People