Laid A Highway - Tift Merritt

This was a town took care of it’s own

That’s what me and my children have known

I worked the mill the way my parents did

I remember this town when I was a kid

Sitting through the movies twice

Open windows late at night

Slipping out in the summer heat

To meet John Miller in the middle of the street

They laid a highway a few years back

Next town over by the railroad track

Some nights, I’m glad it passed us by Some nights, I sit and watch my hometown die

I’m fifty-five and when the mill burned down

I wasn’t much past a pretty young gal

Boss lit a match in the oily night

Cops never had enough to set it right

So while the company traded with our lives

We were busy watching that slow moon rise

Dancing on the dry grass bridge

Making love down by the Cedar County Bridge

They laid a highway a few years back

Next town over by the railroad track

Some nights, I’m glad it passed us by Some nights, I sit and watch my hometown die

They never came to tear that old place down

They roped it off, but you can walk around

See the rust on the painted doors

Watch the rain fall through the burned out floors

This was a town took care of it’s own

This was a town doing fine all alone

The mill got out a quarter to five

You could eat supper with any family you liked

They laid a highway a few years back

Next town over by the railroad track

Some nights, I’m glad it passed us by Some nights, I sit and watch my hometown die