Edge City

Somewhere Else There's A Promised Land

My dad never left our town
Except when he went off to war
And two weeks every summer
He'd take the family down to the Eastern Shore
Never went to college
Never hit the open road
Never had the chance, he said
Before he got too old

He started work at Bethlehem Steel
The summer that he turned 16
That same year he took a wife
And he had a kid; the kid was me
He'd sit in his easy chair
Drinkin' beer, watching the Orioles play
"I let them wall me in," he'd say
"Don't you end up this way"

We'd sit out on the rowhouse step
He'd point down the road with a shaky hand
He'd say: "Get out of here as soon as you can,"
"Somewhere else there's a promised land"

I wore a leather jacket and pointed boots
And I thought my old man was just a fool
I'd go drinking with my friends
In my Camaro instead of going to school
Got a job at a bar downtown
I'd play guitar there all night long
"Louie Louie", "Hanky Panky"
"I Fought The Law & The Law Won"

And sometimes in the evening
I'd drive my car past those rowhouse steps
And think about daddy's promised land
And all those things he did not get

We'd sit out on the rowhouse step
He'd point down the road with a shaky hand
He'd say: "Get out of here as soon as you can,"
"Somewhere else there's a promised land"

Then I had myself a kid
Got a job at the IGA
Put a lot of things on hold
That I keep there to this day
Bought a house in Towson
Watched my daughter grow
Thought about what I'd say to her
Before she gets too old

We'll sit out on our townhouse step
I’ll point down the road with a shaky hand
I’ll say: "Get out of here as soon as you can,"
"Somewhere else there's a promised land"