Lyrics

Aren't some people just famous for being famous?
Isn't that about all that they do?
And couldn't the radio leave you feeling aimless?
Just a nameless person like you
But I sure heard the words Woody Guthrie sang
Even when they didn't quite rhyme
He knew the heart was the stuff, they'd ring close enough
Further down the line

I've painted houses, mopped floors, and washed dishes
Taught kids, cut grass and moved gear
Swung hammer, cleaned toilets and dug ditches
And I even sang songs to sell beer
But it was all for someone else's dream,
'Til I set out after mine
Said, "take this hammer, take it to the captain
Tell him I'm further down the line"

I crossed the Fraser, the Columbia, the Mississippi,
The Allegheny and the Ohio
Saint Lawrence, Susquehanna, Chattahoochee,
The Hudson and the Colorado
I saw the big rigs sleeping in the starry desert
Saw the snow piled 'round the Yukon pines
But I couldn't hang around too long in New York town
Without lookin' further down the line

Some of the joints in New Orleans ain't pretty
But the waitresses'll call you "hon"
And a cop'll stay on the white side of the city
'Cause they paid for his hat and his gun
And there's a Gulf War vet by the overpass
Who says "Bro, can you spare a dime?"
Who's he kidding? These days a dollar won't be getting
You any further down the line, boys

I saw the stars and bars flying in Dixie
And doomsday prophets on capitol hill
I saw a fast food mall named after Walt Whitman
And Gettysburg ghosts wandering still
If our families are so broken,
How do we make a family out of humankind?
We still got promises to break
And miles to go before we wake further down the line

I saw the homeless and the houses sitting empty
I heard the explanations of learned men
Nowadays they'll rob you with a computer
'Cause it's faster than a fountain pen
And if smarter people haven't found a gap in the armour
Why do I keep trying?
I still believe there's a world dying to be born
Further down the line, friends
Further down the line

Aw Woody, I been through all kinds of weather
Been searching all the faces for a sign
As you know, love's hard to keep together
As the miles and the years unwind
And you never run out of blacktop
Nah, you just run out of time
That ribbon of songs keeps on winding along
Ever further, down the line