DESCRIPTION:
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Lyrics :

We both know the smell of a convenience store at 4 am like the backs of a lotta hands
She sells me trucker crack Mini-Thins,
It's like Vivarin, but she doesn't make me feel awkward about it
She can tell it's been a long drive, and it's only gonna get longer
Offers me a free cup of coffee, but I never touch the stuff, besides...
I'm gonna need more speed than that
We notice each other's smiles immediately
It's our favorite thing for people to notice -- our smiles
It's all either one of us has to offer
You can see it in the way our cheeks stretch out like arms wanting nothing more than to say "You, all....are welcome here..."
She shows brittle nicotine teeth with spaces between each one,
Her fingers are bony, there's no rings on em
And she'd love to get'er nails done someday
One time she had'er hair fixed
They took out the grease, made it real big on top, and feathered it
...She likes it like that
She'll never be fully informed on some things just like I will never understand who really buys Moon Pies,
Or those rolling, wrinkled, dried-up sausages, but then again, she's been here a lot longer than me
She's seen everything from men who grow dread locks out of their top lips to children...who look like cigarettes
I give'er my money
I wait for my change
But I feel like there's something more happening here y'all
I feel a - like a warm mop bucket and dingy tiles that'll never come clean
I feel like these freezers cannot be re-stocked often enough
I feel like trash cans of candy wrappers with soda pop dripping down the wrong side of the plastic
I feel like everything just got computerized
I feel like she was raised to say a lot of stupid things about our color
And I feel like if --
I were to identify myself as gay -- this conversation would Stop
It's what I do,
I feel
I get scared sometimes,
And I drive....
But in 1 minute and 48 seconds I'm gonna walk outta here with a full tank of gas, a bottle of Mini-Thins, and a pint of milk
While there's a woman still trapped behind a Formica counter somewhere in North Dakota who says she wants nothing more than to hear my whole story
All 92,775 miles of it
I can feel it though y'all,
She's heard more opinions and trucker small talk than Santa Claus has made kids happy,
So I only find the nerve to tell'er the good parts;
That she's the kindest thing to happen since Burlington, Vermont,
And I wanna leave it at that
Because men - who are not smart - have taken it farther;
Have cradled her up like a nutcracker and made'er feel as warm as a high school education on the dusty backroads, or a beer in a koozie
Y'all, I feel like she's been waiting here a long time for the one who'll come 2-steppin through that door on 18 wheels without makin'er feel like it's her job to sweep up the nutshells alone when she's done been cracked again
Who won't tempt her to suck the wedding ring off his dick, but will show her - simply - love
She doesn't need me or any other man, but she doesn't know that either
And I'm just hopin like crazy she doesn't think I'm the one
Because the only time I'll ever see North Dakota again is in a Van Morrison song late, late at night
I promise
Y'all, I feel like she's 37 years old wearing 51 badly,
Dying inside like certain kinds of dances around fires to speak through you, a forest, if you weren't so taken with sparks
But she was never given those words
She has not been told that she can definitely change the world
She knows some folks do, but not in convenience stores and NOT with lottery tickets
So I finally ask'er what I been feelin the entire time I've been standin there still getting scared like I do sometimes, really REALLY ready to drive, I ask...
"Is this it for you? .....Is this all you'll ever do?"
Her smile collapsed
That tightly strapped-in pasty skin it went loose
Her heart fell crooked
She said, not knowing my real name "I can tell, buddy, by the Mini Thins and the way you drive,
We're both taken with novelty
We've both believed in mean gods
We both spend our money on things that break too easily like... people
And I can tell that you think you've had it rough,
So especially you should know: It's what I do - I dream - I get high sometimes
And I'm gonna roll outta here one day
I just might not get to drive..."


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