"the bus song" genre: Folk
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	a sordid tale of misadventures & uncomfortable lessons learned on the ol' greyhound bus...
	Story Behind the Song This song was recorded at Bob Cook's Unherd-of Stewdios in Edmonton, Alberta in August, 2002. We tried to strike a fine balance between being too soft & waking the sleeping kids upstairs. With me on the recording are Pascal Lecours on unshakable drums, Breezy Brian Gregg on lead guitar, and Humberto Medeiros on bass. Lyrics I dreamed I crossed the continent with poetry & speed robust & mythological on my chrome & black steed I woke up cramped in a tiny seat by a porta-john that stunk with six or seven southern sisters cryin, "mercy, you smell that funk?" I saw the rollin moonlit prairie & I knew I was glory-bound it's just a shame we gotta ride in on this flea-bitten hound... awakened by the singing of some drunk old nappy-head someone said, "shut up," & that pissed off that sketchy dread he voiced his indignation to anyone who'd hear, "none but the righteous shall survive," he said as he cracked another beer & stumbled off the bus in Windsor, thinkin he was in Detroit the driver'd be as unforgiving as the border patrol boys... I got off the bus in Michigan & that so-and-so left me behind similar high school incidents flashed back across my mind 'cept only then I didn't have to sleep on the sidewalk in Traverse City as we all know faceless corporations have no pity they left me luggage-less & sweatshirt-less but I was still doin alright at least until the sprinklers came on in the middle of the night... soaked & battered but unbeaten I got back on the bus but what I saw there made me wonder what'll come of all of us they'd sifted through the human barrel & gathered such strange pickins the group would only be complete with bleating sheep & chickens the jobless & the visionless, the pursuing & pursued the whole shuddering scene all about to come unglued dirty bathrooms & babies, I thought I'd seen it all there was a 19-year-old mother going through withdrawl there were bible-belters arguing their doctrinal schisms there were also rednecks advocating vigilanteism we were just outside of ludicrous & headed for profound on that armpit-smelling, leg-cramping, smoke-colored hound... we were kinda like a family 'cause we couldn't choose each other there was a pretty former stripper who was kinda like our mother she started sharin food & stories, made us all get along & for awhile even the size of my seat didn't seem so wrong I could take all kinds of people, bad parenting aside at least until we took our shoes off you could say I enjoyed the ride... she managed to hold on to my faith come whatever the sane & honest few of us have to stick together but then the driver left our mom behind & showed himself to be another inconsiderate so-and-so like the one who left me for awhile I forgot everything I thought I'd learned I wished there was a day of judgement so we could laugh as he burned... by the time we reached Vancouver it was all that I could do not to jump up & start singin songs to that oceanic blue I wandered down the street & bought a bag of that kind leaf had a smoke & donned my backpack with an exhale of relief I'm not sayin I'm regrettin but the next time around I'm gonna ride that old green tortoise 'cause at least you can lay down...

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