Lletres: Robert Earl Keen. West Textures. The Road Goes On Forever.

Sherry was a waitress at the only joint in town.
She had a reputation as a girl who'd been around.
Down Main Street after midnight, a brand new pack of cigs,
A fresh one hanging from her lips, a beer between her legs.
She'd ride down to the river, and meet with all her friends:
The road goes on forever and the party never ends.

Sonny was a loner, bolder than the rest.
He was goin' in the Navy, but he couldn't pass the test.
So he hung around town, he sold a little pot.
The law got wind of Sonny and one day he got caught,
But he was back in business when they set him free again:
The road goes on forever and the party never ends.

Sonny's playin' eight-ball at the joint where Sherry works,
Some drunken out-of-towner put his hand up Sherry's skirt.
Sonny took his pool cue, laid the drunk out on the floor,
Stuffed a dollar in her tip jar, walked out of the door.
She's running right behind him, reaching for his hand:
The road goes on forever and the party never ends.

They jumped into his pickup, Sonny jammed her down in gear.
Sonny looked at Sherry, said: "Let's get on out of here."
The stars were high above them, the moon was in the east.
The sun was setting on them when they reached Miami Beach.
They got a motel by the water, and a quart of Bombay Gin:
The road goes on forever and the party never ends.

They soon ran out of money, but Sonny knew a man,
Who knew some Cuban refugees who dealt in contraband.
Sonny met the Cubans in a house just off the route,
With a briefcase full of money and a pistol in his boot.
Cards were on the table when the law came bustin' in:
The road goes on forever and the party never ends.

The Cubans grabbed the goodies; Sonny grabbed a jack,
He broke the bathroom window and climbed on out the back.
Sherry drove the pickup through the alley on the side,
Where the lawman tackled Sonny and was reading him his rights.
She stepped out in the alley with a single shot four-ten:
The road goes on forever and the party never ends.

They left the lawman dying and they made their getaway,
Got back to the motel just before the break of day.
Sonny gave her all the money, an' he blew a little kiss.
"If they ask you how this happened, say I forced you into this."
She watched him as his tail lights disappeared around the bend:
The road goes on forever and the party never ends.

There's a main street after midnight, just like it was before,
Twenty-one months later, at the local grocery store.
Sherry buys a paper and a cold six-pack of beer.
The headlines read that Sonny is going to the chair.
She pulls back onto main street in her new Mercedes Benz:
The road goes on forever and the party never ends.