California Snow Lyrics - Borderland - Tom Russell

I'm just tryin' to make a livin' 

I'm an old man at thirty-nine 

With two kids and an ex-wife 

Who moved up to Riverside 

I'm workin' down on the border 

Drivin' back roads every night 

Mountains east of El Cajon 

North of the Tecate line. 

Where the California summer sun 

Will burn right through your soul 

But in the winter you can freeze to death 

In the California snow. 

I catch the ones I'm able to 

And watch the others slip away 

I know some by their faces 

And I even know some by name 

I guess they think that we're all 

Movie stars and millionaires 

I guess that they still believe 

That dreams come true up here. 

But I guess the weather's warmer down in Mexico 

And no one ever tells them 'bout the California snow. 

Last winter I found a man and wife 

Just about daybreak 

Layin' in a frozen ditch 

South of the interstate 

I wrapped 'em both in blankets 

But she'd already died 

The next day we sent him back alone 

Across the borderline. 

I don't know where they came from 

Or where they planned to go 

But we carried her all night long 

Through the California snow. 

Sometimes when I'm alone out here 

I get to thinkin' about my life 

Maybe I should go to Riverside 

And try to fix things with my wife 

Or maybe just get in my truck 

And drive as far as I can go 

Away from all the ghosts that haunt 

The California snow. 

Where the California summer sun 

Can burn right to your soul 

And in the winter you can freeze to death 

In the California snow.