Jimmy Come Lately

I pull out the choke, pump hard on the gas

Oh, this wheezin' old bus is complaining

The Dungeness winter is blowing its last

It's cold but for once it's not raining

"Good morning, Jennifer, welcome aboard

That's a handsome new jacket you're wearing

Now hustle up, Carrie, I'm closing the door

And I'll ask you to knock off the swearing"

And it's Jimmy Come Lately to Lost Mountain Road

The fog from the bay will be clearing

I'm crossing Dean Creek with a thirty-kid load

And I'd rather be nowhere but here

I can still smell the sweat, hear the cry of the crowd

And the team on the magazine covers

My wallet was thick, the airports were loud

'Til the Monday I knew it was over

My back had gone out and I lay awake nights

As I diagrammed plays on the ceiling

All the motel room calls to my long-distance wife

Made me feel like a junkie caught stealing

And it's Jimmy Come Lately to Lost Mountain Road

The fog from the bay will be clearing

I'm crossing Dean Creek with a thirty-kid load

And I'd rather be nowhere but here

I've seen TV lights turn a good coach mean

Seen the pressure break a family apart

I grabbed for the glory, I wore the gold ring

And I barely escaped with my heart

Now Patrick Delaney—I've seen the kid play

God, he's got the moves and the shooting

He's already talking 'bout U.C.L.A. 

While the agents line up for the looting

And it's Jimmy Come Lately to Lost Mountain Road

The fog from the bay will be clearing

I'm crossing Dean Creek with a thirty-kid load

And I'd rather be nowhere but here

Mary and me, we're a comfortable fit

And the ocean here's running with salmon

Evenings we take a long walk on the spit

And Sundays sometimes we go clamming

And they still make me offers and I just turn 'em down

It's a wonder they bother to find me

I'll leave to Valvano and Lewis and Brown

The wonders that I left behind me

And it's Jimmy Come Lately to Lost Mountain Road

The fog from the bay will be clearing

I'm crossing Dean Creek with a thirty-kid load

And I'd rather be nowhere but here