Men walkin' 'long the railroad tracks
Goin' someplace, there's no goin' back
Highway Patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge

Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin' 'round the corner
Welcome to the new world order

Families sleepin' in their cars in the southwest
No home, no job, no peace, no rest


Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light

Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls a prayer book out of his sleepin' bag

Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
Waitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass

You got a one way ticket to the promised land
You got a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand
Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock

Bathin' in the city's aqueduct

Well the highway is alive tonight

But where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad


Now Tom said, "Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry new born baby cries

Where there's a fight 'gainst the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me, mom, I'll be there.
Wherever somebody's fightin' for a place to stand

Or a decent job or a helpin' hand.
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free,
Look in their eyes, ma, you'll see me."


Well the highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows

I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad


Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light

With the ghost of old Tom Joad
With the ghost of old Tom Joad
With the ghost of old Tom Joad