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Hoppin’ trains on the east side of town
Jumpin’ off on the west
Playin’ flies and skinners in the sand
Just tryin’ to live our best
Dippin’, chewin’, spittin’
Walkin’ a country mile
Hidin’ in the weeds at the drive-in
For a glimpse of Walking Tall
Stealin’ golf balls in the dark
Cuttin’ ’em open for what’s inside
Playin’ tackle football at the park
Good God, I nearly died
Thumpin’ paper footballs off linoleum tile
Spinnin’ tacks instead of learnin’
Runnin’ track, sometimes a mile
Just keepin’ them legs a’churnin’
Hikin’ Welcome Mountain
Shootin’ scissor-tails and squirrels
Throwin’ glue-balls in the classroom
Passin’ notes to silly girls
Spendin’ Sundays at the church
Eatin’ sundaes at the Dairy Queen
Leavin’ parents in the lurchUs pinball wizards like you never seen
Buyin’ cigarettes from machines
Smokin’ em in the woods
Oglin’ obscene girls in magazines
Nothin’ of which we understood
Acid-washin’ brand new jeans
In the Hydrochloric kind
By day’s end it’s cotton strings
And skin sores red as wine
Runnin’ full-bore door-to-door
Sellin’ prayin’ hand pens or chocolate bars
Earnin’ your way to camp (’cause you’re too poor)
For preachin’ and smoochin’ beneath the stars
Eatin’ beans and cornbread from tin plates
Drinkin’ Mason jars of sweet iced tea
Providin’ child labor at decent rates
Dad’s a businessman, you see
Campin’ on the Brazos River
Run a trot line in the dead of night
A bobcat bawling “Chicken liver!”
Your uncle accuses but he ain’t right
Pickin’ Granddad’s okra off six foot stalks
Itchin’ like a sumbitch
Layin’ on a Lincoln for late-night talks
Scratchin’ wanderlust like a chigger itch
Settlin’ differences and old scores
With honor and dignity
If the scoundrel comes back for more
Land a punch or well-placed knee
We didn’t live through avatars
Or virtual reality
We lived out loud in muscle cars
And Evel Knievelin’ gravity
Breakin’ into the Baker
Joinin’ ghosts of yesteryear
Neither prepared to meet our Maker
Don’t look at us! We were never there
Where once was a fort of Army pride
Helicopters, if you please
Was but an empty shell for seek and hide
That brought our fair burg to her knees.
Consumin’ water with more iron
Than all of Pittsburgh and her steels
Don’t mind us while we’re turnin’ orange
Nor bother askin’ how it feels
We’re the children of the ’70s
The last of the wild, the brave
We’re the freeest of the frees
Explorin’ the world our grampas saved
There’s way more here than meets the eye
It ain’t half the story this story tells
The life that found my friends and I
Growin’ up in Mineral Wells
