Rust Never Sleeps

Look out, mama, there's a white boat comin' up the river
With a big red beacon, and a flag, and a man on the rail
I think you'd better call john,
'cause it don't look like they're here to deliver the mail
And it's less than a mile away
I hope they didn't come to stay
It's got numbers on the side and a gun
And it's makin' big waves.

Daddy's gone, my brother's out hunting in the mountains
Big john's been drinking since the river took emmy-lou
So the powers that be left me here to do the thinkin'
And i just turned twenty-two
I was wonderin' what to do
And the closer they got,
The more those feelings grew.

Daddy's rifle in my hand felt reassurin'
He told me, red means run, son, numbers add up to nothin'
But when the first shot hit the docks i saw it comin'
Raised my rifle to my eye
Never stopped to wonder why.
Then i saw black,
And my face splashed in the sky.

Shelter me from the powder and the finger
Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger
Think of me as one you'd never figured
Would fade away so young
With so much left undone
Remember me to my love,
I know i'll miss her.

People, pick up on what i'm puttin' down now
Welfare mothers make better lovers
Down at every laundromat in town now
Welfare mothers make better lovers
While they're washin' you can hear this sound now
Welfare mothers make better lovers
Divorcee!

Hard to believe that love is free now
Welfare mothers make better lovers
Out on the street with the whole family now
Welfare mothers make better lovers
Hard to believe that love is free now
Welfare mothers make better lovers
Divorcee!

People, pick up on what i'm puttin' down now
Welfare mothers make better lovers
Down in every laundromat in town now
Welfare mothers make better lovers
While they're washin' you can hear this sound now
Welfare mothers make better lovers
Divorcee!

They were hiding behind hay bales,
They were planting in the full moon
They had given all they had for something new
But the light of day was on them,
They could see the thrashers coming
And the water shone like diamonds in the dew.

And i was just getting up, hit the road before it's light
Trying to catch an hour on the sun
When i saw those thrashers rolling by,
Looking more than two lanes wide
I was feelin' like my day had just begun.

Where the eagle glides ascending
There's an ancient river bending
Down the timeless gorge of changes
Where sleeplessness awaits
I searched out my companions,
Who were lost in crystal canyons
When the aimless blade of science
Slashed the pearly gates.

It was then i knew i'd had enough,
Burned my credit card for fuel
Headed out to where the pavement turns to sand
With a one-way ticket to the land of truth
And my suitcase in my hand
How i lost my friends i still don't understand.

They had the best selection,
They were poisoned with protection
There was nothing that they needed,
Nothing left to find
They were lost in rock formations
Or became park bench mutations
On the sidewalks and in the stations
They were waiting, waiting.

So i got bored and left them there,
They were just deadweight to me
Better down the road without that load
Brings back the time when i was eight or nine
I was watchin' my mama's t.v.,
It was that great grand canyon rescue episode.

Where the vulture glides descending
On an asphalt highway bending
Thru libraries and museums, galaxies and stars
Down the windy halls of friendship
To the rose clipped by the bullwhip
The motel of lost companions
Waits with heated pool and bar.

But me i'm not stopping there,
Got my own row left to hoe
Just another line in the field of time
When the thrashers comes, i'll be stuck in the sun
Like the dinosaurs in shrines
But i'll know the time has come
To give what's mine.

Last night i was cool at the pool hall
Held the table for eleven games
Nothing was easier than the first seven
I beat a woman with varicose veins.

She stopped to see herself in the mirror
Fix her hair and hide heir veins
And she lost the game.

Next day i went to the dentist
He pulled some teeth and i lost some blood
We'd like to thank you for the cards you sent us
My wives and i were all choked up.

I recall how caesar and cleo
Made love in the milky way
They needed boats and armies to get there
I know there's a better way.

I saw the movie and i read the book
But when it happened to me
I sure was glad i had what it took
To get away.

Gotta get away, gotta get away
Gotta get away, gotta get away

I'm making another delivery
Of chemicals and sacred roots
I'll hold what you have to give me
But i'll use what i have to use.

The lasers are in the lab
The old man is dressed in white clothes
Everybody says he's mad
No one knows the things that he knows.

No one knows, no one knows
No one knows, no one knows

I'm sleepin' in every hallway
I just can't accept the stares
I'm using too many covers
I'm warm now so i don't care.

I'm thinkin' of no one in my mind
Sedan delivery is a job i know i'll keep
It sure was hard to find.

Hard to find. hard to find
Hard to find. hard to find

My my, hey hey
Rock and roll is here to stay
It's better to burn out
Than to fade away
My my, hey hey.

Out of the blue and into the black
They give you this, but you pay for that
And once you're gone, you can never come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black.

The king is gone but he's not forgotten
This is the story of a johnny rotten
It's better to burn out than it is to rust
The king is gone but he's not forgotten.

Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There's more to the picture
Than meets the eye.
Hey hey, my my.