In the summer that I was baptized, my father held me to his side

What is this land America so many travel there

Well they blew up the Chicken Man in Philly last night

One soft infested summer me and Terry became friends

Lights out tonight, trouble in the heartland

Madman drummers bummers and Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat

Well I came by your house the other house, your mother said you went away

Born down in a dead man's town

In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream

Well there she sits buddy just gleaming in the sun

I get up in the evening and I ain't got nothing to say

They're still racing out in the Trestles, but that blood it never burned in her veins

Well no cannon ball did fly, no rifles cut us down

I'm driving in my car, I turn on the radio

I had a friend was a big baseball player back in high school

Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack

We sit in the car outside your house

Hey little girl is your daddy home

Spanish Johnny drove in from the underworld last night

Well Papa go to bed now, it's getting late

Driving home she grabs something to eat

Well they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late that month

The rangers had a homecoming in Harlem late last night

With you I don't hear the minutes ticking by

Grab your ticket and your suitcase, Thunder's rolling down this track

A letter come blowin' in on an ill wind

Once I thought I knew everything I needed to know about you

Bobby's got a gun that he keeps beneath his pillow

There is a blood red circle on the cold dark ground

At night I go to bed, but I just can't sleep

You get up every morning at the sound of the bell

We busted out of class, had to get away from those fools

Put on your best dress, baby, and darling fix your hair up right

I've been working real hard trying to get my hands clean

I was trying to find my way home, but all I heard was a drone

Mister Trouble come walkin' this way

Now there's something coming through the air

The runway rushed up at him as he felt the wheels touch down

Crazy Janey and her mission man were back in the alley trading hands

I was bruised and battered and I couldn't tell what I felt

Teardrops on the city, Bad Scooter searching for his groove

You make up your mind, you choose the chance you take

Johnny works in a factory and Billy works downtown

On a rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert, I pick up my money and head back into town

Have you ever seen a one-trick pony in the field so happy and free

The screen door slams, Mary's dress waves

Her brains they rattle and her bones they shake

Fat man sitting on a little stool

I been knocking on the door that holds the throne

I was raised out of steel here in the swamps of Jersey