The Open Road Song

on the raggly wooded outskirts of the city
where the ancient elevators store the grain
& the long lake boats that used to haul the metal
are in the dock & rusting with the rain

there's a maritime supply beneath the skyway
my father took me there to buy a rope
the store is dark & jammed with all you needed
on a journey bound for the Cape of Good Hope

I'll seek my fortune in the wide world
I'll take my chances out in the cold
Come what may I'll be OK:

IF I CAN ONLY FIND A STRETCH OF OPEN ROAD

a mysterious figure passes on the sidewalk
in ragged clothes 'father' I say 'how come
he wears several dirty jackets & a topcoat?'
My father nods & says "son that man's  a bum"

I looked again & saw the rapt expression
'neath the floppy hat he tipped back with his thumb
the aura of a world's ragtime adventure
I said  "When I grow up I want to be a bum!"

I'll seek my fortune in the wide world
take my chances out there in the cold
Come what may I'll be OK:

IF I CAN ONLY FIND A STRETCH OF OPEN ROAD

now I'm traveling a world that's filled with war zones
listening to music we've destroyed
praying to a God who's just a tyrant
for work that's just like being unemployed

eating food that's pumped with fat & water
reading books with nothing on the page
sittin in the dark to watch a picture
you're better hungry watchin' a bare stage

I'll seek my fortune in the wide world
take my chances out there in the cold
Come what may I'll be OK:

SOMEWHERE THERE"S A STRETCH OF OPEN ROAD

from the album 'Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John/ Yep Roc Records
©2007 Peter Case Trumpet Blast Music/ Bug Music BMI

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