Riding to New York
Well I met him in Minnesota,
He was dark and overcast,
With long grey hair and eyes that stared through me like I was glass,
I asked "Where are you going to?"
He said "I'm the wind, I'm just blowing through",
He lit up a cigarette and began to talk,
"See the doctors told me,
That my body won't hold me,
My lungs are turning black,
Been a Lucky Strikes fool since I was at school,
And there ain't no turning back,
They can't tell me how long I've got,
Maybe months but maybe not,
So I'm taking this bike and I'm riding it to New York,
Cuz I want to see my granddaughter one last time,
Want to hold her close and feel her tiny heart beat next to mine,
Want to see my son and the man he's become,
Tell him I'm sorry for the things that I've done
And I'd do it if I had to walk,
Oh I'm taking this bike and I'm riding to New York.
Through the forests of Wisconsin,
That I knew as a boy,
Past the skyline of Chicago,
Round the lakes of Illinois,
I lay my head in a motel bed,
Where my back gets sore and my eyes turn red,
And listen to the trucks roll past my door.
Through the fields of Ohio,
As the sunshine paints them gold,
I run just like a river runs; rapid, quick and cold,
And fly through Pennsylvania and the Jersey turnpike tolls,
And I wont stop 'til I get to New York.
Cuz I want to my grandson one last time,
Want to see his eyes sparkling and stare back into mine,
Now my time is short I want to see my daughter,
Tell her all the things that I should have taught her,
And I'd do it if I had to walk,
Oh I'm taking this bike and I'm riding to New York,
And I'll go up to the churchyard one last time,
Lay flowers down for the woman who gave me the best years of my life,
And I'd do it if I had to walk,
Yeah I'd do it if I had to walk,
I'm taking this bike and I'm riding to New York."