Stopped into a back roads diner
Somewhere just off Carolina
Highway thirty three
Sign said "open", I went in
Pushed the RC handle made of tin
Not a soul around that I could see

Waitress came out from the back
Name plate said her name was "Jack"
I'm glad I came in
Ordered up some milk and pie
This waitress sure did catch my eye
Pushing that RC ad made of tin

Told her that I was passing through
Not staying long, had things to do
Smiling, she  said "You'll stay"
I said I'' need a place to rest
She named one place...the best
Out by the bay

There's not much to do round here
We only serve three kinds of beer
and the Carolina Zoom Zoom
we make in the back room
It goes down as smooth as ever
Turn your insides straight to leather
That Carolina Zoom Zoom
we make in the back room


"Jack" sat down and asked my story
told her, "lots of pressure, lots of worry"
Don't worry ***, it'll go
I asked her how she could just say that
Took off my coat and then my ball hat
Just how was she to know

She said "I read people when they're here"
Some folks stay, some disappear
You'll be here a while
She said "you're driving time is over"
"I think you'll end up, as the new owner"
"Of this place"...with a smile

I said "there's no people here to sell to"
"What the heck would I do"
owning this with no one here at all
She laughed and said "I am agreeing"
But you are looking but not seeing
Money's made behind the yonder wall

There's not much to do round here
We only serve three kinds of beer
and the Carolina Zoom Zoom
we make in the back room
It goes down as smooth as ever
Turn your insides straight to leather
That Carolina Zoom Zoom
we make in the back room

She said it was a truck stop diner
That sold the best ***** in all Carolina
Carolina zoom zoom in the back
Recipe's been here for ages
Brewed real slow, distilled in stages
Always forty jugs out on the rack

We've sold to Robert Johnson and Bocephus
You may choose to not believe this
I wouldn't lie about that fact
The diner never makes much money
But, the back room, there's the honey
sure as i know I'm called Jack

She said she lived in an old trailer
That she traded with a sailor
For a case five   years ago
Moved it back on up the hill
There she could watch on the still
If I bought, she'd have to go

I thought a while, made two offers
Money to fill up her coffers
And she had to stay
She smiled, asked me if I'm certain
Did I mean it, or was I just flirtin'
I told her I was set to pay

There's not much to do round here
We only serve three kinds of beer
and the Carolina Zoom Zoom
we make in the back room
It goes down as smooth as ever
Turn your insides straight to leather
That Carolina Zoom Zoom
we make in the back room

I've been the owner fifteen years
I changed my life, by changing gears
Jack is still with me
Thank god I stopped in to this diner
Back in the back roads off Carolina
Highway thiry three

Grandpa'd take me fishing down to Watson's creek
He'd hold his finger to his lips so I knew not to speak
He'd show me how to shoot a gun, how to turn the other cheek
How to be a better person, and how to duck instead of deke

I remember where I was
When I heard Grandpa died
I was standing in the hallway
With my brother by my side
He put his arm around me
While I just cried and cried

I don't need to jump out of planes
Or run with bulls in Pamplona
I don't need to swim with sharks
Or race a car down in Daytona
Two lines don't make a bucket list
Yes, I said....only two
The first one is to wake each day
And the second...be with you

We'd watch the trains stretch our pennies that
we'd lined up on that track
Smoking stolen cigarettes as we watched the train go past
Lying there, two brothers, hiding in the summer grass

I remember where I was
When I heard my brother died
Shot down over Vietnam
I ran to the tracks and cried
I could still feel him there with me
Stretching pennies while I cried

I don't need to jump out of planes
Or run with bulls in Pamplona
I don't need to swim with sharks
Or race a car down in Daytona
Two lines don't make a bucket list
Yes, I said....only two
The first one is to wake each day
And the second...be with you

I've grown up a little since, fell in love with a great girl
I take her fishing to the creek, let her into Grandpa's world
I've shown her where the track once was
Where we stretched pennies just because


I remember where I was
And I remember that you cried
We were in the same front hallway
Where I heard they both had died
But this time you were crying
Because I took you for my bride

I don't need to jump out of planes
Or run with bulls in Pamplona
I don't need to swim with sharks
Or race a car down in Daytona
Two lines don't make a bucket list
Yes, I said....only two
The first one is to wake each day
And the second...be with you

My thumb, it leads the way




I do not have a fixed address
I've slept near bales of hay
I've woken up in farmers fields
My thumb, it leads the way
My thumb, it is my compass
In time I'll move along
I move around at random
I'm a lyric with no song

I've slept beneath a starlit sky
Never really laying roots
My world is in my duffle
With a second pair of boots

I've lived down by the train tracks
Woken up as they go by
I've woken up beside a scarecrow
As the birds still filled the sky
My thumb, it is my compass
In time I'll move along
I move around at random
I'm a lyric with no song

I've slept beneath a starlit sky
Never really laying roots
My world is in my duffle
With a second pair of boots



I've slept beneath a starlit sky
Never really laying roots
My world is in my duffle
With a second pair of boots