Lyrics

Kerouac’s Ghost
Hiding from the sun in the morning wind
I woke up in Tucson again
I've been up, been down, I been across this land
Now I’m staring at the sky with a left arm tan
There’s a hitch in my rhythm like the hum of the road
Each mile a secret left untold
I’ve been chasing this spirit for all my life
Jack Kerouac’s ghost just out of sight
Arizona whispers and Texas replies
In the language of motel neon signs
If I find what I’m after, I’ll probably run
Into the arms of the setting sun
Another lost fool raging at the gloom
Screaming as it sets “too soon, too soon!”
Now the oil flows in Pecos County
They say that basin is full of money
And all the roughneck saints in their pickup trucks
With Dale’s number 3, just for luck
There was a woman I met in a Mexican bar
She said “Honey, do you know where you are?”
I’m caught in this moment, this here and now
With Kerouac’s ghost waiting to be found

I thought I saw Jack in a truck stop mirror
He was singing Leonard Cohen’s hallelujah
I thought I saw Jack in a truck stop mirror
He was singing a broken hallelujah

I’ll wear this song like a worn-out coat
Still searching on the road for Kerouac’s ghost