Lyrics Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell

Telephone Road

Rain came down in endless sheets of thunder

Lightning bolts split pine trees down to the roots

In the shadow of the Astrodome

With a hurricane coming on strong

We used to hit the streets and go swimming in our birthday suits

Skiing in a bar ditch behind a moped

13 stitches on the corner of a sardine can

We were dirt poor Houston kids

Our whole family living on the skids

But we always had a nickel for the coming of the ice cream man

Mosquito truck blowing up DDT

Barefoot heathens running wild and free

Air raid buzzer at a noon-day scream

Living in a dream

On Telephone Road

I used to love them cherry Cokes down at the Prince's Drive-In

And the cheeseburgers tasted so good I like to come untied

There's a Chinaberry tree I remember

I used to climb in and out of my window

The night I left was on the day before my Grandma died

Sawdust spread out on a dance hall floor

Jukebox ripping at an all-out roar

Barmaid smiling at a 10 cent tip

Living is a trip

On Telephone Road

Magnolia Garden bandstand on the very front row

Johnny Cash Carl Perkins and The Killer putting on a show

6 years old and just barely off my daddy's knee

When those rockabilly rebels

Sent the Devil running right through me

A drive-in movie in the trunk of my car

One-eyed sailor in an ice house bar

Spit-shine Charlie and ol' Peg-leg Bill

Are dressed up fit to kill

On Telephone Road

Telephone Road, Telephone Road

Barbecue and beer on ice

A salty watermelon slice

At the Little Taste of Paradise

On Telephone Road