Lyrics

Headlights on the pavement
Can't see nothin', through the mist
Just a mile from Salamanca
Hotel glow's hard to resist

Had a real good time in Cleveland
And tomorrow, is NYC
Ghostly voice over the airwaves
The king of Jersey, calls to me

I'm a long way, from Nebraska
But I turn the broadcast up
Stop for oil, and check the gas tank
Fill the bass man's coffee cup

And these kids today will never understand
Nine straight weeks of living in a van
Playing one night stands
Watching burned out bar maids, eating every lyric
From my troubled, tired, hands
Was a time I might have let 'em help me smile
If only for a little while

It's my tenth night, as the wheel man
And I can't get no relief
Between the bourbon, and the bar maids
Got a whole band fast asleep

Had a rough time, in Chicago
But they loved us in Cheyenne
It'll be my turn come morning
I just take sleep when I can

But I find peace, in the darkness
It's almost like I'm alone
I feel safe here, in the night time
Even though I'm far from home

And these kids today will never understand
Nine straight weeks of living in a van
Playing one night stands
Watching burned out bar maids, eating every lyric
From my troubled, tired, hands
Was a time I might have let 'em help me smile
If only for a little while

There's a faint light, to the eastward
As the mist turns into rain
Watch the sun's rays, through the rain clouds
It's almost like they're in pain

There's a stirrin', in the backseat,
Seems somebody needs a phone
Soon it's eggs and coffee blacker
Than any sin we've ever known

Then it's back out on the highway
Steam a risin' off the pines
As I drift off in the backseat
With the sun's face warm on mine

And these kids today will never understand
Nine straight weeks of living in a van
Playing one night stands
Watching burned out bar maids, eating every lyric
From my troubled, tired, hands
Was a time I might have let 'em help me smile
If only for a little while

When I'm back home, where I started
When I'm back, to where I'm from
I'm gonna sleep there, in my own bed
'Til my time at last has come

To throw my rig back in the trailer
Haul it off on down the road
Until then you'll sleep beside me
And I won't carry me no load

Cause the whiskey, and the bar maids
I've seen 'em lead men to their deaths
But they won't take me, no they won't take me
I'll be yours 'til my dyin' breath

And these kids today will never understand
Nine straight weeks of living in a van
Playing one night stands
Watching burned out bar maids, eating every lyric
From my troubled, tired, hands
Was a time I might have let 'em help me smile,
So maybe back in the day I used to let 'em help me smile
What's a guy supposed to do if he can't smile?
If only for a little while