Ghost of Tom Joad

Men walking along the railroad tracks

Going someplace, there's no going back

Highway patrol choppers coming up over the ridge

Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge

Shelter line stretching around the corner

Welcome to the new world order

Families sleeping in the cars in the southwest

No home, no job, no peace, no rest

The highway is alive tonight

But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes

I'm sitting down here in the campfire light

Searching for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls a prayer book out of a sleeping bag

Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag

Waiting for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last

In a cardboard box beneath the underpass

You got a oneway ticket to the promised land

You got a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand

Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock

Bathing in the city aqueduct

The highway is alive tonight

The highway is alive tonight

But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes

Where it's headed everybody knows

I'm sitting down here in the campfire light

Sitting down here in the campfire light

Searching for the ghost of Tom Joad

Waiting on the ghost of Tom Joad

Now Tom said, Mom, wherever there's a cop beating a guy

Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries

Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air

Look for me, Mom, I'll be there

Wherever there's somebody fighting for a place to stand

Or a decent job or a helping hand

Wherever somebody's struggling to be free

Look in their eyes, Mom, and you'll see me

Wherever somebody's struggling to be free

Look in their eyes, Mom, and you'll see me

The highway is alive tonight

The highway is alive tonight

But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes

Where it's headed everybody knows

I'm sitting down here in the campfire light

I'm sitting down here in the campfire light

Searching for the ghost of Tom Joad

Waiting on the ghost of Tom Joad