Laid A Highway Lyrics - Merritt Tift

This was a town took care of it's own 

That's what me and my children have known 

I worked the mill the way my parents did 

I remember this town when I was a kid 

Sitting through the movies twice 

Open windows late at night 

Slipping out in the summer heat 

To meet John Miller in the middle of the street 

They laid a highway a few years back 

Next town over by the railroad track 

Some nights, I'm glad it passed us by 

Some nights, I sit and watch my hometown die 

I'm fifty-five and when the mill burned down 

I wasn't much past a pretty young gal 

Boss lit a match in the oily night 

Cops never had enough to set it right 

So while the company traded with our lives 

We were busy watching that slow moon rise 

Dancing on the dry grass bridge 

Making love down by the Cedar County Bridge 

They laid a highway a few years back 

Next town over by the railroad track 

Some nights, I'm glad it passed us by 

Some nights, I sit and watch my hometown die 

They never came to tear that old place down 

They roped it off, but you can walk around 

See the rust on the painted doors 

Watch the rain fall through the burned out floors 

This was a town took care of it's own 

This was a town doing fine all alone 

The mill got out a quarter to five 

You could eat supper with any family you liked 

They laid a highway a few years back 

Next town over by the railroad track 

Some nights, I'm glad it passed us by 

Some nights, I sit and watch my hometown die