We drove north from New Orleans
In a '55 Bel Air
Music on the bench-seat
Expectation in the air
There's room for a man to wear his hat
In this church of red and cream
We are pilgrims of purpose
Driving in this dream
'Is that a '55, man?'
'I used to drive a '55'
'What you got under the hood, man?'
'She makes me feel alive'
Live oaks draped with Spanish moss
Like rags of shawls and ball gowns
Shade the shame-faced dowagers
Along the river road
And on the bluffs at Vicksburg
The big guns still guard the river
Menacing the barges as they haul their heavy load
'Is that a '55, man?'
'I used to drive a '55'
'What you got under the hood, man?'
'She makes me feel alive'
Outside the closed-down undertakers
Two Lincoln hearses stand there
Rusting and a-pealing in the unforgiving air
The church where Sonny Boy lies buried
Burned down to the ground
A crucifix of rusty nails and ashes
There I found
There's no panther in the cane-break
No devil at the crossroads
But here's a '57 Cadillac and it's tearing down the road
It's Bird-breath and his buddies
They're coming from Chicago
They've got a fifth of whiskey
They've got a hundred miles to go
They are barrelling from the West Side
To the gulf of Mexico
'Is that a '55, man?'
'I used to drive a '55'
'What you got under the hood, man?'
'She makes me feel alive'
The young people they left here
For the steel-mills and a**embly lines
For the marshalling yards and the k**ing floor
Many years ago
But the cities they are dying
And the industries are wasted
And there sure is no good reason
To come back here any more
'Is that a '55, man?'
'I used to drive a '55'
'What you got under the hood, man?'
'She makes me feel alive'
We drove north from New Orleans
In a '55 Bel Air
Got music on the bench-seat
Expectation in the air
There's room for a man to wear his hat
In this church of red and cream
And we are pilgrims of purpose
Driving in this dream
'Is that a '55, man?'
'I used to drive a '55'
'What you got under the hood, man?'
'She makes me feel alive'