child of these roads

in the middle of town was a long black highway

rolling on forever

with music running through my veins

i was gonna play or never

look back

i was barely legal

summer of eighty-two

the asphalt was shining

the sky was dazzling blue

and as the towns rolled by like barking dogs

nipping at my heels

something in me was changing

fast as the speed of my wheels

america was everything and nothing like i thought she'd be

a holy roadside attraction for a starry-eyed kid me

a starry-eyed kid me

i was a child of these roads

a child of these roads

a wide black river shining

i rode her everywhere she wanted to go

just a child of these roads

the first time i found memphis

i saw the old sun studios

turned into a souvenir shop and learned the way things go

i just drove past graceland

went down south to new orleans

i played a delta scarred by mini-malls and automatic banking machines

automatic banking machines

i was a child of these roads

a child of these roads

a wide black river shining

i rode her everywhere she wanted to go

just a child of these roads

so

from a boy with a piano in his truck

the knave i used to be

to all you souls in those roadside joints

thanks for being kind to me

you showed me how to love with all my heart

how to sing when i had to cry

how to take each day as it comes and let each day go by

let each day go by

and i guess i never did learn to stay in one place too long

so when my time comes

just scatter my ashes on the road and sing this song

there goes a child of these roads

a child of these roads

a wide black river shining

i rode her everywhere she wanted to go

just a child of these roads

just a child

still a child

just a child

still a child

just a child of these roads