Peter Case - The Open Road Song lyrics

Case On the ragged wooded outskirts of the city Where the ancient elevators store the grain And the long lake boats that used to haul the metal Are in the dock and rusting with the rain There's a maritime supply beneath the skyway My father took me there to buy a rope The store is dark and jammed with all you needed On a journey bound for the Cape of Good Hope I'll seek my fortune in the wide world Take my chances in the cold Come what may I'll be okay If I could only find a stretch of open road A mysterious figure pa**es on the sidewalk In ragged clothes, father I say, "How come?" He wears several dirty jackets and a topcoat My father nods and says, "Son, that man's a bum" I looked again and saw the rapt expression 'Neath a floppy hat he tipped back with his thumb The aura of a world's ragtime adventure I said, "When I grow up I want to be a bum" I'll seek my fortune in the wide world Take my chances in the cold Come what may I'll be okay If I could only find a stretch of open road Now I'm traveling a world that's filled with war zones Listening to music we've destroyed Praying to a God who's just a tyrant For work that's just like being unemployed Eating food that's pumped with fat and water Reading books with nothing on the page Sittin' in the dark to watch a picture You're better hungry watchin' a bare stage I'll seek my fortune in the wide world Take my chances in the cold Come what may I'll be okay Somewhere there's a stretch of open road