The Ghost of Tom Joad

Man walks along the railroad track

He's goin' some place and there's no turnin' back

The Highway Patrol chopper comin' up over the ridge

Man sleeps by a campfire under the bridge

The shelter line stretchin' around the corner

Welcome to the New World Order

Families sleepin' in their cars out in the Southwest

No job, no home, no peace, no rest, no rest

And the highway is alive tonight

Nobody's foolin' nobody as to where it goes

I'm sittin' down here in a campfire light

Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls his prayer book out of a sleepin' bag

The preacher lights up a bud and takes a drag

He's waitin' for the time when the "last shall be first, and the first shall be last"

In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass

With a one-way ticket to the promised land

With a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand

Lookin' for a pillow of solid rock

Bathin' in the city's aqueducts

And the highway is alive tonight

Nobody's foolin' nobody as to where it goes

I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light

With the ghost of old Tom Joad

Now Tom said, "Ma

Whenever ya see a cop beatin' a guy

Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries

Wherever there's a fight against blood and hatred in the air

Look for me, Ma, I'll be there"

"Wherever somebody's strugglin' for a place to stand

For a decent job or a helpin' hand

Wherever somebody is strugglin' to be free

Look in their eyes, Ma, you'll see me"

You'll see me

You'll see me

You'll see me

You'll see me

You'll see me

You'll see me

You'll see me

You'll see me

And the highway is alive tonight

Nobody's foolin' nobody as to where it goes

I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light

With the ghost of Tom Joad