Riding to New York

Well, I met him in Minnesota

He was dark and overcast

With long gray hair and eyes that stared

Through me like I was glass

I asked "Where are you going to?"

He said "I'm the wind, I'm just blowing through"

He lit up a cigarette and began to talk

See the doctors told me that my body won't hold me

My lungs are turnin' black

Been a Lucky Strike's fool since I was at school

And there ain't no turnin' back

They can't tell me how long I've got

Maybe months, but maybe not

I'm taking this bike and riding to New York

'Cause I wanna see my granddaughter one last time

Wanna hold her close and feel her tiny heartbeat next to mine

Wanna see my son and the man he's become

Tell him I'm sorry for the things I've done

And I'd do it if I had to walk

I'm taking this bike and riding to New York

Through the forests of Wisconsin that I knew as a boy

Past the skyline of Chicago

Round the lakes of Illinois

I lay my head in a motel bed

And my back, it's sore, and my eyes turn red

And listen to the trucks roll past my door

Through the fields of Ohio

As the sunshine paints them gold

I run like a river runs

Rapid, quick, and cold

And fly through Pennsylvania

And the Jersey turnpike tolls

And I won't stop till I get to New York

'Cause I wanna see my grandson one last time

Wanna see his eyes sparkling, stare back into mine

Now my time is shorter, I wanna see my daughter

Tell her I'm sorry for the things I taught her

And I'd do it if I had to walk

Oh, I'm taking this bike, I'm riding to New York

And I go up to the churchyard one last time

Lay flowers down for the woman who gave me

The best years of my life

And I'd do it if I had to walk

I'd do it if I had to walk

I'm taking this bike and riding to New York