The Ghost of Tom Joad
Men walkin' 'long the railroad tracksGoin' some place and there's no goin' backHighway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridgeHot soup on a campfire under the bridgeShelter line stretchin' round the cornerWelcome to the New World Order!Families sleepin' in their cars in the SouthwestNo home, no job, no peace, no rest
The highway is alive tonightBut nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goesI'm sittin' down here in the campfire lightSearchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad
He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bagPreacher lights up a butt and takes a dragWaitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be lastIn a cardboard box 'neath the underpassGot a one-way ticket to the promised landYou got a hole in your belly and gun in your handSleeping on a pillow of solid rockBathin' in the city's aqueduct
The highway is alive tonightBut where it's headed everybody knowsI'm sittin' down here in the campfire lightWaitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad
Now Tom said: "Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guyWherever a hungry newborn baby criesWhere there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the airLook for me mom, I'll be there!Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to standOr a decent job or a helpin' handWherever somebody's strugglin' to be freeLook in their eyes Mom, you'll see me!"
The highway is alive tonightBut nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goesI'm sittin' down here in the campfire lightWith the ghost of old Tom Joad