My American Dream

(album: My American Dream - 2018)

This used to be a one-horse town but the pony went away
Ended up in China 'cause they make it cheaper there, they say
The store fronts all are empty and the factory is dead
And these streets I used to walk on, well now they're just my bed

And I'm going down, down, down
I'm going down

Did a couple years of college but I just couldn't make it stick
Had to come back here and help Mama 'cause Daddy left when she got sick
She worked very day for nothing until she turned sixty-two
And on the same day that I buried her the bank foreclosed on her house too

That's my American dream and I've been all that I can be
With nothing left to lose at all, I guess I'm free
That's my American dream, dream, dream
That's my American dream

Now I stand here at this off-ramp and smile as best I can
With a sign that says "Jesus loves you" but it's hard to think he gives a damn
When they roll down their windows and put some spare change in my hand
But I'd give it all right back to just be looked at like a man

And I'm going down, down, down
I'm going down

When it's cold I try the mission; on nights like this I sleep outside
Under a bridge beside the interstate where I can hear those trucks roll by
And imagine I'm inside one, just rolling down the road
But I wake up just to realize that this place is now my home

That's my American dream and I've been all that I can be
With nothing left to lose at all, I guess I'm free
That's my American dream – it disappeared in front of me
With nothing left to lose at all, I guess I'm free
That's my American dream, dream, dream
It's my American dream