The Momma 'n' Daddy Collection 126

I've got a Daddy song here for hard times. What could be more appropriate? It's Chatham County Line with 'Route 23':

I spent my whole life since I was as high as a knee
By that two-lane blacktop they call Route 23
My Daddy ran a service station
And the pumps they did shine
I'd watch him wash the windshields
And keep the oil up to that line

The days they were long but the money was good
The only things that changed were the seasons
And the shapes of the hoods
Till the Governor came on the radio in late '55
He said, 'The State's gonna build a new highway
One that's fast, smooth, and wide.'

Chorus
With that new highway, no one stops here anymore
And you can't make a living,
Without swinging that door
The sign by the roadside still says 'Come On In'
But the bulbs are long since burnt out
Not to light up again

Well, Daddy was as stubborn as a mule in the snow
He said, 'Good folks return to the places that they know'.
But after the gravel arrived
And the steamrollers whined
All those good folks left me and Daddy,
And those two lanes behind.

Repeat chorus

Now the calendar on the wall still reads 1975
And no one crossed off the day that my Daddy died
We laid him in the ground beneath
That old Sycamore tree
That shades a boarded up gas station,
Out on Route 23

Repeat chorus

Here it is to listen to. (Thanks: AR.)

[The Momma 'n' Daddy Archive, containing all the details of the series, is here.]