The scorching northeast summer hit
I called up my old buddy Vin
I said let’s go see some wilderness afar
The steam rose off the pavement floor
I can’t take this heat no more
Shut the lights and leave the door ajar

I hopped right in the passenger seat
“We’ll be back in time to see the leaves
Blaze into a majesty of gold”
The rearview mirror smouldered with
The ruins of the place we live
In truth we both had left it long ago

91 unraveled so
The magic only feet below
Like arteries we came to flow at will
Up ahead, with any luck
And everything in front of us
On the hunt for fame or just some thrill

Mile markers, talking less
Cities start to come undressed
We turned off right and westward we were bound
Maybe i would find the end
To find that is what i intend
Or just get lost and pretend to be found

It’s getting humid in New England
And there ain’t much here to see
I’m all alone in my hometown
And the road’s calling out to me

The head of the countryside
Heavy on my shoulder lies
I feel her wounds and hear her crying clear
America - she’s unsurpassed
The nights are cool, the plains are vast
And suddenly i feel the past is near

A pear tree in a garden grove
Stands behind a family home
A stranger to the native folk in town
Aliens in chevrolets
Speak in tongues and pass on ways
Sacred to the souls who stay around

They spoke of the meridian
I told them everywhere i been
Only then did i begin to see
I think of Kerouac - he used to say
Home is somewhere on the way
Or maybe that’s the highway’s melody

Then I crossed a great divide
It pulled the past out from my eyes
An angel in disguise began to talk
She said “seek you out some providence
and find a road more promisin’”
I jolted to and yelled at Vin to stop

It’s getting humid in New England
And there ain’t much here to see
I’m all alone in the suburbs
And the road’s calling out to me

We broke off from the traffic then
Avoided something tragic when
A heavy rain came crashin’ in our view
We pulled on over to the side
A sad delay to our joyride
When it cleared up city lights were shining through

We killed the headlights, revved the car
My dulled down senses caught off guard
By the bustle of the boulevard below
Lifting myself from the seat
Stepping soundly off the beat
To US drag, the main street all aglow

Like fireflies we flickered in
The moment we were livin’ in
It set my heart a-quiverin’ for days
We could feast on forever, man
Never leave this place again
Abandon all those journeymanning ways

But the darkness doubled down one day
I said to Vin “let’s leave this place”
He said “you know I think I’ll stay a while”
I understood, I wished him well
The night had fallen to a chill
He handed me a flannel for the ride

It’s getting humid in Massachusetts
And there ain’t much here to see
I’m by myself in my apartment
And the road is calling out to me

Alone a lonesome august eve
I thought of turning back to leave
But the only remedy is keepin’ on
So I forged ahead on west 15
Trying to figure what it means
The space between my feet and the beyond

The doldrums hardly settled in
When I reached the highway’s end
And finally saw the promised land arise
With widened eyes I couldn’t stop
From Monterey through Echo Park
Thinking every thought I held in mind

I met a gal in West LA
But left her at the break of day
Sleeping easy laid up on the beach
It made me realize something when
The sluggish dawn dawdled in
The sun it always rises in the East

So i hobbled back the way I came
The blood a-tricklin’ through my veins
The halcyon summer days closing out
This world it ain’t no place for me
But there’s really nowhere else to be
And i won back some eternity for now

It’s getting cool in new england
And the Fall will turn the leaves
I’m all alone on this highway
And the northeast is calling me