Working On The Highway

Album: Born In The U.S.A. (1984)
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  • Friday night and a guy's fresh out of work
    Talking 'bout the weekend, scrubbing off the dirt
    Some heading home to their families, some looking to get hurt
    Some going down to Stovell wearing trouble on their shirts

    I work for the county out on 95
    All day I hold a red flag and watch the traffic pass me by
    In my head I keep a picture of a pretty little miss
    Someday, mister, I'm gonna lead a better life than this

    Working on the highway, laying down the blacktop
    Working on the highway, all day long I don't stop
    Working on the highway, blasting through the bedrock
    Working on the highway, working on the highway

    (Woo)

    I met her at a dance down at the union hall
    She was standing with her brothers, back up against the wall
    Sometimes we'd go walking down the Union tracks
    One day I looked straight at her and she looked straight back
    So I'm

    Working on the highway, laying down the blacktop
    Working on the highway, all day long I don't stop
    Working on the highway, blasting through the bedrock
    Working on the highway, working on the highway

    Woo

    Saved up my money and I put it all away
    I went to see her daddy but we didn't have much to say
    "Son, can't you see that she's just a little girl
    She don't know nothing about this cruel, cruel world"

    We lit out down to Florida, we got along alright
    One day her brothers came and got her and they took me in a black-and-white
    The prosecutor kept the promise that he made on that day
    And the judge got mad and he put me straight away
    I wake up every morning to the work bell clang
    Me and the warden go swinging on the Charlotte County road gang
    I'm

    Working on the highway, laying down the blacktop
    Working on the highway, all day long I don't stop
    Working on the highway, blasting through the bedrock
    Working on the highway, working on the highway

    Working on the highway, laying down the blacktop
    Working on the highway, all day long I don't stop
    Working on the highway, blasting through the bedrock
    Working on the highway, working on the highway

    Ooh ooh ooh
    Ooh ooh ooh
    Ooh ooh ooh
    Alright, come on Writer/s: Bruce Springsteen
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 2

  • Bruce from Johnstown, PaAmy, I get the same feeling.
  • Amy from Pittsburgh, PaI always thought this song was about a couple who runs away together and the girl's family disaproves and the police take their side about it even though the guy didn't do anything technically illegal. But you could also interpret it that the narrator out-and-out kidnaps the girl.
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