My American Dream

This used to be a one-horse town but the pony went away

Ended up in China 'cause they make it cheaper there, they say

The store fronts all are empty and the factory is dead

And these streets I used to walk on, well now they're just my bed

And I'm goin' down, down, down

I'm goin' down

Did a couple years of college but I just couldn’t make it stick

Had to come back here and help Mama 'cause Daddy left when she got sick

She worked very day for nothin' until she turned sixty-two

And on the same day that I buried her the bank foreclosed on her house too

That's my American dream and I've been all that I can be

With nothin' left to lose at all, I guess I'm free

That's my American dream, dream, dream

That's my American dream

Now I stand here at this off-ramp and smile as best I can

With a sign that says "Jesus loves you" but it's hard to think he gives a damn

When they roll down their windows and put some spare change in my hand

But I'd give it all right back to just be looked at like a man

And I'm goin' down, down, down

I'm goin' down

When it's cold I try the mission; on nights like this I sleep outside

Under a bridge beside the interstate where I can hear those trucks roll by

And imagine I'm inside one, just rollin' down the road

But I wake up just to realize that this place is now my home

That's my American dream and I've been all that I can be

With nothin' left to lose at all, I guess I'm free

That's my American dream – it disappeared in front of me

With nothin' left to lose at all, I guess I'm free

That's my American dream, dream, dream

It's my American dream