Gulf Coast Highway Lyrics
Written by Nanci Griffith, James H. Brown Jr and Danny Flowers
Gulf coast highway, he worked the rails.
He worked the rice fields with their cold dark wells.
He worked the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.
The only thing he's ever owned is this old house here by the road.
And when he dies he says he'll catch some blackbird's wing,
He will fly away to heaven, come some sweet blue bonnet spring.
She walked through springtime when he was home:
The days were sweet, their nights were warm.
The seasons changed, the jobs would come; the flowers fade,
And that old house felt so alone when the work took him away.
And when she dies, she says she'll catch some blackbird's wing,
She will fly away to heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring.
(Instrumental Break)
Highway 98, the jobs are gone.
They tend their garden, they set the sun.
This is the only place on Earth where the bonnets grow
And once a year they come and go at this old house here by the road.
When they die, they say we'll catch some blackbird's wing,
And we will fly away to heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring.
Yes when they die, they say we'll catch some blackbird's wing,
We will fly away together come some sweet blue bonnet spring.
