Laid a Highway

This was a town took care of its 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.

[Chorus]
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 the slow moon rise,
Dancing on the dry grass bridge,
Making love down by the Cedar County Bridge.

[Chorus]

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 its 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.

[Chorus]
Some nights, I sit and watch this mill town die.