Man walks along a railroad track
He goin' someplace and there's no turnin' back
Highway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge
Man sleeps by a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin' around the corner
Welcome to the new world of order
Families sleeping in their cars in the Southwest
No job, no home, no peace, no rest
No rest!
The highway is alive tonight
Nobody's foolin' nobody about is where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Searching for the Ghost of Tom Joad
He pulls his prayer book out of his sleeping bag
The preacher lights up a budd and takes a drag
He waiting for the time when the last shall be first
and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
With a one-way ticket to the promised land
With a hole in your belly and gun in your hand
Lookin' for a pillow of solid rock
Bathin' in the city aqueduct
The highway is alive tonight
Nobody's foolin' nobody about is where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
With the Ghost of old Tom Joad
Now Tom said Mom, wherever ya see a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Wherever there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Mom, I'll be there
Wherever somebody's strugglin' for a place to stand
For a decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me.
Well the highway is alive tonight
Nobody's foolin' nobody about is where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of Tom Joad