I said goodbye from
the hospital doorway
Now I'm standing one last time
in my mother's room
This is the beginning of experience
Innocence is gone too soon
I climb in the car with my father
Wipe my eyes and say goodbye
to the South Bay
We drive all night for West Marin
He puts his hand on my shoulder,
he doesn't know what to say
We got on the highway together,
my daddy and me
And the road lay out before us
like a possibility
Who would be the daughter?
Who would be the son?
How would he improve
upon the way he'd seen this?
Batik sheets thumbtacked to the ceiling
And cinderblock bookshelves
from the lumberyard
They hold a cup of pens,
a hawk feather,
a little leather stash box
The works of Sam Shepard,
the tale of Siddhartha
Vestatons are magic,
he pulls beauty out of air
Nights are filled with music
and a million friends
In the worst of times, the bottom's out,
the landlord's drawn the line
And we're on the hunt
for empty boxes,
cause we gotta move again
On the highway together,
my daddy and me
When the bill turns red,
you race down to the phone company
To kill the engine going downhill,
to save on fuel
Another set of forms
to fill out another new school
One night on the way home from the city
The bug breaks down
We leave it in a parking lot
And race a shopping cart through town
We'll have to wait till daylight
to hitch a ride home with a friend
So we sing Beatles songs together
Till the night comes to an end
Now I'm hugging, good to meet you
To girlfriend 23
Now a month's gone by
And the shelves go up in a room
She's clear for me
Now it's coming down to money
And they're not getting along
She can't give him the support he needs
So once again we're pawned
On the highway together,
my daddy and me
From where can we live freely
To where can we stay for free
And the open road's potential
Like a diamond in the rough
Closed into the path of least resistance
At the time I ain't had enough
Now I've said goodbye
from the hospital doorway
And I've stood one last time
in my father's room
Hard as I fought to get away from him
Suddenly he's gone too soon
From their doorways,
I watch my daughter sleeping
Safe in the same rooms
they've always slept
They'll tell me what I miss someday
and I'll try to understand
Remember every slip of words,
you hope for another forward step
You