Ride

[Spoken introduction:]
I was in the winter of my life, and the men I met along the road were my only summer
At night I fell asleep with visions of myself, dancing and laughing and crying with them
Three years down the line of being on an endless world tour, and my memories of them were the only things that sustained me, and my only real happy times
I was a singer. Not a very popular one
I once had dreams of becoming a beautiful poet, but upon an unfortunate series of events saw those dreams dashed and divided like a million stars in the night sky that I wished on over and over again, sparkling and broken
But I didn't really mind because I knew that it takes getting everything you ever wanted, and then losing it to know what true freedom is
When the people I used to know found out what I had been doing, how I'd been living, they asked me "Why?", but there's no use in talking to people who have home
They have no idea what it's like to seek safety in other people, for home to be wherever you lay your head
I was always an unusual girl
My mother told me I had a chameleon soul, no moral compass pointing due north, no fixed personality; just an inner indecisiveness that was as wide and as wavering as the ocean
And if I said I didn't plan for it to turn out this way I'd be lying
Because I was born to be the other woman
Who belonged to no one, who belonged to everyone
Who had nothing, who wanted everything, with a fire for every experience and an obsession for freedom that terrified me to the point that I couldn't even talk about it, and pushed me to a nomadic point of madness that both dazzled and dizzied me

I been out on that open road
But you can be my full-time daddy, white and gold
Singing blues has been getting old
But you can be my full-time baby, hot or cold

Don't break me down (Don't break me down)
I been traveling too long (I been traveling too long)
I been trying too hard (I been trying too hard)
With one pretty song (With one pretty song)

I hear the birds on the summer breeze, I drive fast
I am alone at midnight
Been trying hard not to get into trouble, but I
I've got a war in my mind
So, I just ride, just ride
I just ride, I just ride

Dying young and playing hard
That's the way my father made his life and art
Drink all day and we talk 'til dark
That's the way the road dogs do it, light 'til dark

Don't leave me now (Don't leave me now)
Don't say goodbye (Don't say goodbye)
Don't turn around (Don't turn around)
Leave me high and dry (Leave me high and dry)

I hear the birds on the summer breeze, I drive fast
I am alone at midnight
Been trying hard not to get into trouble, but I
I've got a war in my mind
I just ride, just ride
I just ride, I just ride

I'm tired of feeling like I'm fucking crazy
I'm tired of driving 'til I see stars in my eyes
It's all I've got to keep myself sane, baby
So I just ride, I just ride

I hear the birds on the summer breeze, I drive fast
I am alone at midnight
Been trying hard not to get into trouble, but I
I've got a war in my mind
I just ride, just ride
I just ride, I just ride

[Spoken ending:]
Every night I used to pray that I'd find my people, and finally I did on the open road
We had nothing to lose, nothing to gain, nothing we desired anymore, except to make our lives into a work of art
Live fast. Die young. Be wild. And have fun
I believe in the country America used to be
I believe in the person I want to become
I believe in the freedom of the open road
And my motto is the same as ever:
"I believe in the kindness of strangers. And when I'm at war with myself I ride, I just ride."
Who are you?
Are you in touch with all of your darkest fantasies?
Have you created a life for yourself where you can experience them?
I have. I am fucking crazy
But I am free