Angie

I got to take you

Away from here

I got to take you
Somewhere

In a beat-up car

And let you cry

Against an open window

I got to take you

By the highway

To another California
One that likes to

Show its age

If you want

You’ll take your books
And your baby dolls

And cut-off jeans

And that diary you write in

That you keep

Behind the couch

Why would I

Try to drive

When I know

I’ll just forget

That there’s no place going

No place worth going

You had lobster tail in Maine

But the gas money is short

And the oil’s never been changed

I got you cigarettes

Plus a map

Plus the sound of Jimmy Hendrix

Making coin

On his guitar

Get your feet up

On the dashboard

Just relax

Just relax

Just relax and figure out

What you do next

You want to leave me

Like you left

Those other guys

You want to find a boat

And find a guy

And find another week

Where you can say

You’re scraping by

What’s the puzzle

What’s the prize

And when will you realize

That you’re not held up

You’re the one

Who holds the cards

And slows ‘em down

You got the game

You call the shots

You tell me where the map
Says to stop

I can’t see your eyes

Behind your long hair

The rain means the windows

Have got to go up

Let the coast disappear

Find the crops

Find the fields

Find a house that looks

Like nobody’s locked the door

In awhile

Hide out somewhere

Hum a song to yourself

Pretend there’s a guitar

To play something on

Take your better angels

Off your left shoulder

Sharpen the knife

Steel the resolve

Run the road

Gun the engine

We could have stayed

In California

But California changed

So now we gotta make

Our own California

In the beds

Of our accusers

Those who wash

But can’t get clean

When we reach the other ocean

I’ll let you lick

The salt off me

But it’s going to take time

It’s going to take lots of time

By then, there’ll be more people

Tucked away in the backseat

I hope you don’t get lost

I hope you don’t lose me

All the things I hope for

Are gifts

Under the tree

I hope wherever I take you

Is somewhere

You can’t bear

To leave