How far from Wind by Bobby Scharping

I wanna know how far
You can get without a car
Hop a train and hum through the velvety air
See if what they promised is still out there

We hide beneath the last palms and pines
Waiting to hop on in Jacksonville
Cars are thundering overhead
Maniacs hollering build! build! build!

Blue jay shrieking above the noise
Of a world that’s moving along
Needles fluttering in the breeze
What’ll we do when the green’s all gone?

How far can you get without a car
Plumb the depths of the tarmac
Dropping down on the FEC freight
Find it before it never comes back

Steel grinding over steel
Iron aerosolizes
A bloody smell is filling the air
As the world industrializes

Jump down from the rolling train
And limp off below the ballast
Well, at least the weather’s clear
We lay down our tentless pallets

Drift into an uneasy sleep
Passing trains making the Earth shake
Between these ghastly screams
Buzzing things nip at my face

Pack up camp before the dawn
Coastal sunrise green spangled
We walk the tracks into town
A picket eases your ankle

I wanna know how far
You can get without a car
Hop a train and hum through the velvety air
The land has changed but adventure’s still out there

• Folk
• environmentalism
• folk punk
• freak folk
• protest
• Lawrence