Telephone Road - Rodney Crowell

Rain came down in endless sheets of thunder

Lightning bolts split pine trees down to the roots

In the shadow of the Astrodome

With a hurricane coming on strong

We used to hit the streets and go swimming in our birthday suits

Skiing in a bar ditch behind a moped

13 stitches on the corner of a sardine can

We were dirt poor Houston kids

Our whole family living on the skids

But we always had a nickel for the coming of the ice cream man

Mosquito truck blowing up DDT

Barefoot heathens running wild and free

Air raid buzzer at a noon-day scream

Living in a dream

On Telephone Road

I used to love them cherry Cokes down at the Prince’s Drive-In

And the cheeseburgers tasted so good I like to come untied

There’s a Chinaberry tree I remember

I used to climb in and out of my window

The night I left was on the day before my Grandma died

Sawdust spread out on a dance hall floor

Jukebox ripping at an all-out roar

Barmaid smiling at a 10 cent tip

Living is a trip

On Telephone Road

Magnolia Garden bandstand on the very front row

Johnny Cash Carl Perkins and The Killer putting on a show

6 years old and just barely off my daddy’s knee

When those rockabilly rebels

Sent the Devil running right through me A drive-in movie in the trunk of my car

One-eyed sailor in an ice house bar

Spit-shine Charlie and ol' Peg-leg Bill

Are dressed up fit to kill

On Telephone Road

Telephone Road, Telephone Road

Brabecue and beer on ice

A salty watermelon slice

At the Little Taste of Paradise

On Telephone Road