Long Black Highway
Chris Knight/Austin Cunningham

 

Me and Billy were roofers of houses

We met at the Louisville union hall

It was like I’d found my long lost brother

We drank like fish

And worked like dogs

Looking back I knew he'd get me in trouble

But I didn't have too many friends

Running up and down that Dixie highway

We thought the good times

Would never end

 

Down that long black highway

There’s a deep dark hole

Down that long black highway

There’s a lot of things you'll never know

 

We chased women

And we chased whiskey

From the gulf up to Ohio

Then one night we ran out of money

And we robbed us an all night Texaco

Right in there I guess the friendship ended

That’s where the good times fell apart

I remember screaming at Billy

You should've let that kid alone

You should've drove off in the dark

 

Down that long black highway

There’s a deep dark hole

Down that long black highway

There’s a lot of things you'll never know

 

Well we pulled off on a back road

I thought to think about what we'd done

I got out and took a leak

And lit a smoke

But now I’m wishing I had run

'cause Billy always was a mean one

And he was stoned out of his head

I guess that he quit shooting

When he thought that I was dead

 

Down that long black highway

There’s a deep dark hole

Down that long black highway

There’s a lot of things you'll never know

 

I woke up sometime around daylight

But I didn't live long after that

I was taken back up to the highway by a ghost

He was wearing a Texaco hat

Now me and that kid

We haunt that stretch of highway

We go see Billy from time to time

You know Billy always acted a little bit crazy

But now he's done gone

Plumb out of his mind

 

Down that long black highway

There’s a deep dark hole

Down that long black highway

There’s a lot of things you'll never know