Men walkin' 'long the railroad tracks
Goin' someplace there's no goin' back
Highway patrol [bad word]  up over the bridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin' 'round the corner [bad word] to the new world order
Families sleepin' in their cars in the southwest
No home no job no peace no rest

Refrain: The highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag
Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
Waitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
Got a one-way ticket to the promised land
You got a hole in your belly and gun in your hand
Sleepin' on a pillow of solid rock
Bathin' in the city aqueduct

Refrain

Now tom said mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me mom I'll be there
Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand
Or a decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's [bad word]  to be free
Look in their eyes mom you'll see me