23
I put my foot on the highway like a toe in cold water
Wishing I was somewhere else, but so afraid to go
There was crying behind me, and crying inside me
But when life says it's time to leave, you just don't tell it no
So I joined the desperate caravan leaving Appalachia
I wiped the coal dust off my clothes, and the scales from my eyes
But there was no Emerald City, just a gray town with no pity
And those city nights were darker than those Logan County mines
Everybody else was heading my direction
They were looking for the promised land like me
But the road to Hell is paved with good intentions
and the asphalt's awful hot on 23
There was no work at the factory, they wouldn't hire me in a store
But I was never broke enough to stand in Welfare lines
Folks looked at me funny, I didn't talk like everybody
Soon my reasons for staying became empty alibis
Everybody else was heading my direction
They were looking for the Promised Land like me
But the road to Hell is paved with good intentions
And the asphalt's awful hot on 23
Now it's July hot in Cleveland in a room 10 bucks will buy me
The walls are smoky yellow, the window's painted closed
But I cant stop remembering when, so I'll just pack my things again
An walk back down that blacktop till I find my country road
Everybody else is heading my direction
They've been looking for the promised land like me
But the road to Hell is paved with good intentions
And the asphalt's awful hot on 23
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions
And the asphalt's awful hot on 23....
I put my foot on the highway....
