Stan Ridgway The Roadblock
News travels fast in a small desert town So it wasn't long at all before the word got around That a killin' mad car was headed their way So the sheriff and the boys were gonna stop him Out on the highway Right where it intersected big black rock So it wasn't long at all Before the whole town was out standin' 'round Hammerin' a nail and buildin' up a pride In a roadblock The mayor's wife sat in the shade And talked her way through a few good lies While her husband practiced his acceptance speech For a medal from the F.B.I. And Granny rocked back in her chair and said, "Just what did this man do?" While some idiot kids from school Ate the dirty sno-cones colored red, white and blue At the roadblock Then the local paper jumped the gun And printed the big headline "Town is saved from killer car with roadblock at stateline" Three miles down the highway in a Chevy '69 Were a pair of crazy eyeballs Jumpin' left and right in time To an eight track tape playin' Foghat and Jethro Tull And a gasoline soaked hand shiftin' A little plastic skull And on the arm a blue tattoo that read "I'm a son of a bitch" A map open on the front seat Leather black as pitch One foot slammed on the gas, no shoe Just an argyle sock Andthat car was screamin' wild down the highway Like lightnin' towards the roadblock Then all eyes turned down the highway To a big cloud of smoke And Granny went into a mild state of shock and started to choke And then a boy up in a tree yelled out, "Here he comes..." Then twenty men strong aimed and fired point blank Nineteen shotguns... Well the next day the sheriff just tried to stall While they buried the body out behind a wall The newspaper said, "Killer still on the lam Seems the boys at the roadblock shot the wrong man Nobody really knew just who he was He was drivin' a Camaro with dashboard fuzz They all burned the car right there at big black rock And no one ever said a word at all again About a roadblock -----------------------------------------------------------------------