Wheel

(album: ¡Viva Terlingua! - 1973)

If I took a rolling wheel
And rolled it ten times round
Would it travel far from here
Or would it just go round
Round and round

As a young boy I helped the old man
Working in the fields
And everyday, we hauled the hay
To the rolling of the wheels
Till one day the tractor laid
The old man down to the ground
The tractor pitched him into a ditch and
Left a dusty sound
Of the wheel that kept spinning round
The wheel that kept spinning round

Rolling wheel, rolling on
Taking us all on our way
Rolling wheel, rolling on
Taking back all that they gave
Taking us all on our way
Taking back all that they save

I've never knew my father well
The war called him too soon
Said he was an officer
Saw some pictures in my room
The letter said he was reported dead
Near the front lines he'd been found
A mine blew his jeep into a twisted heep
And I still hear the sound
Of the wheel that kept spinning round

Rolling wheel, rolling on
Taking us all on our way
Rolling wheels, rolling on
Taking us all to the grave
Taking back all that they save
Taking us all on our way

My brother chased a dream of wheels
His whole life geared for the race
As soon as he could, he drove off for good
His whole life was short, quick, and straight
He only lived to spin those wheels
And make that move over ground
Till the steering failed and he crashed the rail
And he laid there still for the sounds
Of the wheel that kept spinning round

Rolling wheel, they're rolling on
Taking us all on our way
The rolling wheels, rolling on
Taking back all that they gave
Taking us all on our way
Taking back all that they say

As for me, my life's too short
The wheel has carried my far
Around this world 100 times
By bus, truck, train, bike, or car [?]
And just like the rest I roll on to my death
On a country road far from town
I stare by the wheel just as sure as I feel
That there won't be but one sound
That's the wheel that keeps spinning round

Yeah, the wheel that keeps spinning round

Rolling wheels, rolling on
Taking us all on our way
The rolling wheels, rolling on
Taking back all that they say
Taking us all on our way
Taking us all on our way

The rolling wheels, yeah rolling on
Taking back all that they gave
Taking us all on our way