This Road

This Road
 The road stirs in the distance
 I stop and strain to view (I stop to take a look)
 across the bridge around the bend
 another passing through (he's goin' faster than he should)
 he trails the road behind him
 never waves or slows
 A headlong flight to somewhere else
 he hurries down the road
 Who is this passing stranger
 Who travels all alone
 Along some road to nowhere
 So far away from home
 I watch him at the crossing
 I watch him fade to dust
 he travels when he wants to
 I travel when I must
 This road was young when my granddad
 first plowed this tired land
 this road saw neighbors come and go
 and come and go again
 across the river, through the gap
 back and forth they flowed
 out of mem'ry, out of sight
 and out of this old road
 I remember all the young men
 Their call came loud and clear:
 Get a job, get a car
 Get the hell away from here
 And, one by one, they all were blown
 Like dust upon the wind
 Till what was left were those who found
 the road back home again
 This road was young when my granddad
 first plowed this tired land
 this road saw neighbors come and go
 and come and go again
 across the river, through the gap
 back and forth they flowed
 out of mem'ry, out of sight
 and out of this old road
 I guess the day will finally come
 when this road's just like the rest
 No wild thread, but straight and wide
 where cars pass two abreast
 there'll be no place for folks like me
 no place for sweet and slow
 down the highway fast and fierce
 a long time down this road
 This road was young when my granddad
 first plowed this tired land
 this road saw neighbors come and go
 and come and go again
 across the river, through the gap
 back and forth they flowed
 out of mem'ry, out of sight
 and out of this old road
 for the sweetest days are the days I've known
 standing here by the side of the road
 watching others come and go
 at home on this old road