'63 Mercury Meteor

At first it's the wind blowing so cold

The ice and the snow and the rain

And it's strange this day I'm remembering now

My little sister and I In a dream

It's black and it's white by my memory's light

With the snow and the dark bare trees

Then after the front there is only the sound of

The snow falling into the leaves

I see the light in the barn

We were trying to stay warm

I see my daddy popping open the hood

He primed her well

And layed his hand on my head

And said let's see if that'll do any good

He pumped on the gas turning the key

The cylinders jumped and she groaned

Then that 63 mercury meteor

Turned over and she was ready to roll

Over the moon

And down through the town

The sound of a happy machine

The windshield wipers bending the light

Cold coming in through the wing

Riding with daddy

Just my sister and me

Driving that old meteor home

It was like we were flying

A spaceship mama

Spinning around the sun

We turned the radio on to the static and sound

Of the road rolling under the wheel

Daddy said I tell you folks something right now

She's a fine little automobile

Like a day you want to last forever

I kept wishing it would never end

The smell of the dust and rain in our clothes

Is like a letter that I'll never send

Daddy pulled in to the truck stop

The place sounded like a pinball machine

Smelled of diesel and tobacco

Oil and smoke, coffee and gasoline

He fixed a rusty leak in the gas tank

With a rag and an old bar of soap

Then he bought us a bottle

Of soda pop for breakfast

Little drifters on a gypsy road

See grandma was gone, she followed her song

we were trying to take care of her things

Reaping and sowing the timeline down

Me and sister we were coming of age

The clock was really running

The big world was turning

And we didn't like the compromise

But there's nothing you can do

You got to keep on moving

I could see that in my Daddy's eyes

If my daddy was sad or scared or cross

He tried to set the burden aside

As we got a little closer to getting back home

I started feeling like I wanted to cry

It's black and it's white by my memory's light

With the cold and the dark bare trees

Then after the front there is only the sound of

The snow falling into the leaves

(additional verses)

I remember sneaking the keys out

Pretending I was back on the road

Sitting there running the battery down

Listening to the radio

I come home from school one day

And my mercury was long gone

Daddy sold it off to a skinny little man

I think he played the saxophone

Someone said they see it roll through town

Once in a while to reveal

Like my daddy said folks I can tell you right know

She's a fine little automobile

But I wouldn't ever trade the memory we made

For the car, the title, the key

For flying in a mercury meteor

My daddy and my sister and me