Written: Third Street, Durango CO, 1973
Knees never worked this song out well enough to play it with any of his bands but it seemed like an okay song when he played it at home by himself. Other than having a weird, hard to hit note, stupid lyrics (winning at Keno?), and abject sentimentality, it’s one of Knees better obscure tunes.
I grew up in the back of an old Ford
We were drivin too fast to get bored
Daddy kept the radio playin
He said “If you believe in the road
It’s just like prayin.”
Mama left us as we passed through Reno
For a man who was winnin at Keno
Daddy laughed all the way down to Zion
He said “If you believe in the road...”
Then started cryin.
I spent sixteen years on the road with my pa
Drivin in cars, singin in bars
An those sixteen years were the best I ever saw
Sleepin in cars, followin stars.
We were busted drivin through Albuquerque
Seems the man was lookin out for me
Daddy said “It looks like bad weather
But if you believe in the road we’ll be together.”
It seems my real father died in San Quentin
So they sent me upstate for detention
Daddy cursed them as they led me away
He said “If you believe in the road...”
He died that day.