The Stubborn Lovers

Lyrics

I’m shivering in the cold Nevada twilight
I’m shaking the desert dust out of my boots, remembering how I
Stood crying beneath a New York City streetlight
When summer’s soft lover set me free with some dissembling; now I
Would like to write a poignant line about my lover’s eyes
But instead I’ll drive ’cause I’m gonna try to make Point Reyes by sunrise

I’m seven days out of Jersey, late September
I left with Old Glory flying high and all my debts forgiven
Been trying hard not to think about October
What’s done is done, what may come’s a highway yet undriven
The Winnemucca sand beneath my feet is cool and dry
And the secret stars are spinning in the clear Nevada sky

And I drive, thinking back twenty-five hundred miles or so
To deep Pennsylvania where the clouds gathered dark and low
Just out of Youngstown, lightning blazed down from heaven like a column of fire
As the sky split wide open, holy water started pouring down
And I came clean into Cleveland, cathedral town
Walked through those doors, folks were praying to the sound of a rock ’n’ roll choir
And they started singing

Mary, Mary, quite complacent
How does your garden grow?
With pretty little girlies in blue jeans all in a row
Mary, Mary, queen of springtime
It’s autumn now, your garden has died
So plant your seeds and pray for redemption, but I’m gonna ride
’Cause Mother Road welcomes her daughters with arms open wide

I dumped my blues down in Memphis and jumped the Mississippi
I lost Old Glory in Oklahoma City
Saw Cadillacs rusting, sang a Lone Justice tune
Poor Texas panhandle groom’s got no bride to marry
She’s living it up on the neon strip in Tucumcari
The crows in the canyon hanging under the moon
I know they’ll fly soon

If I meet the ghost of Kerouac in North Beach
I’d like to share a drink or two ’cause it’s been quite a long ride
To California from a Jersey Shore beach
But I’ve got Marylou and Rose of Sharon right alongside
There may not be a promised land beneath the western sun
But it’s all right, the highway’s bright, and our story’s just begun
Can’t you hear us singing

Mary, Mary, quite complacent, how does your garden grow?
With pretty little girlies in blue jeans all in a row
Mary, Mary, queen of springtime
It’s autumn now, your garden has died
So plant your seeds and pray for redemption, but I’m gonna ride
‘Cause Mother Road welcomes her daughters with arms open wide
Mother Road welcomes her daughters with arms open wide
Mother Road, I am your daughter, my arms open wide