Mama Knows the Highway - Hal Ketchum

Well I was found in the transit lounge Of a dirty airport town What was I doing on the road to ruin Well my mama laid me down My mama laid me down Round my hand was a plastic band With a picture of my face I was crying, left to die in This God forsaken place This God forsaken place Only mama knows why she laid me down In this God forsaken town Where she was running to what she ran from Though I always wondered I never knew Only mama knows Only mama knows I'm passing through Im on my way I'm on the road no ETA I'm passing through no fixed abode And that is why I need to try To hold on Ive gotta hold on, gotta hold on Was it planned as a one night stand Or did she leave in disgrace Well I never, will I ever see my father's face See my father's face Only mama knows why she laid me down In this God forsaken town Where she was running to what she ran from Though I always wondered I never knew Only mama knows Only mama knows Only mama knows why she laid me down In this God forsaken town Where she was running to what she ran from Though I always wondered I never knew Only mama knows Only mama knows Ive gotta hold on, Ive gotta hold on, youve gotta hold on

Timeless carriage Of ebony Distant marriage Dark symphony Midnight steed Of destiny Carry me... To dedicate Must sacrifice If your spirit gains It's worth the price Older breed Know their epitaph Did they see

Up every mornin' just to keep a job I gotta fight my way through the hustlin' mob Sounds of the city poundin' in my brain While another day goes down the drain But it's a five o'clock world when the whistle blows No one owns a piece of my time And there's a five o'clock me inside my clothes Thinkin' that the world looks fine, yeah Yodel-ay-ee-whee-oh Tradin' my time for the pay I get Livin' on money that I ain't made yet Gotta keep goin', gotta make my way But I live for the end of the day 'Cause it's a five o'clock world when the whistle blows No one owns a piece of my time And there's a long-haired girl who waits, I know To ease my troubled mind, yeah Yodel-ay-ee-whee-oh Yodel-ay-ee-whee-oh In the shelter of her arms everything's okay She talks and the world goes slippin' away I know the reason I can still go on When every other reason is gone 'Cause in my five o'clock world, she waits for me Nothin' else matters at all 'Cause every time my baby smiles at me I know that it's all worthwhile, yeah Yodel-ay-ee-whee-oh Yodel-ay-ee-whee-oh Yodel-ay-ee-whee-oh Yodel-ay-ee-whee-oh

My Daddy brought home a photograph from the paper yesterday It showed a line of wagons movin' someplace far away That picture made my daddy smile, it made my Momma cry It seems like Daddy's wagon load of dreams had long since passed her by But the dream that makes the sparrow fly can make an eagle fall And one that makes the rich man money, it ain't no dream at all It's a cryin' shame to wake up just to find it's all been broke in two Careful what you're dreamin', 'cause it someday may come true Well he talked on all through supper time 'bout the good prospector's life Couldn't see Momma didn't wanna be no good prospector's wife He said, "We best sell out and go before the weather turns too cold And maybe buy ourselves an extra horse to carry all the gold" But the dream that makes the sparrow fly can make an eagle fall And one that makes the rich man money, it ain't no dream at all It's a cryin' shame to wake up just to find it's all been broke in two Careful what you're dreamin', 'cause it someday may come true And I got up as soon as the first light came to start the mornin' fire Wonderin' if my Momma's will had cooled that man's desire And inside that stove upon the coals, an ashen paper lay It was a ghostly line of wagons, movin' someplace far away And the dream that makes the sparrow fly can make an eagle fall And one that makes the rich man money, it ain't no dream at all It's a cryin' shame to wake up just to find it's all been broke in two Careful what you're dreamin', 'cause it someday may come true Oh, be careful what you're dreamin', 'cause it someday may come true