I'm stuck here at the side of this dusty road
In a no-mans land inside Nebraska
I try to keep my head on straight,
But this old brokedown Model A is all I got

I should have seen it coming,
My only ticket to a new life would expire
And leave me standing with a suitcase and a ring

And a mind that's full of memories that I can't seem to outrun
And as I try to cross these dusty plains, I'm back where I'd begun

I met that girl under Indiana moonlight
She was standing with her hands inside the pockets of her oversized coat
And I said, "you look so cold, why don't you come inside and warm up?" 
And she did.

Five months later, we were walking down the aisle
And we bought a place in Lafayette with a picket fence and running water
And I knew I was as happy as I'd ever be again, and I was right

Because the American dream, is not what it seemed, in 1929
The bottom dropped and the good times stopped, and the jobs you couldn't find

And one day in late November, she was weak and coughing, I remember
But that medicine ain't free
She took my hand to tell me, but I only heard her say the word "goodbye"

Now I'm standing in the middle of a dust field in Nebraska
Trying to put the past behind me and move on
And if I get to California, there'll be work to feed my body 
And to keep my mind from wondering away

What little guitar there is, it's tuned DADGAD, a step low.

• Amici Open Mic, 2004-03-19

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