| Men walkin' 'long the railroad tracks |
| Goin' someplace and there's nowhere to go back |
| Highway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge |
| Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge |
| Shelter line stretchin' round the corner |
| Welcome to the new world order |
| Families sleepin' in their cars in the southwest |
| No home no job no peace no rest |
| The highway is alive tonight |
| Nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes |
| I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light |
| Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad |
| Takes a prayer book out of his sleeping bag |
| Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag |
| He waits for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last |
| 'neath a cardboard box in the underpass |
| You've got a one-way ticket to the promised land |
| You've got a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand |
| Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock |
| Bathin' in the city aqueduct |
| The highway is alive tonight |
| But where it's headed everybody knows |
| I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light |
| Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad |
| "Whenever there's a cop beatin' a guy |
| Whenever a hungry newborn baby cries |
| Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air |
| Just look for me and I'll be there |
| Wherever there's somebody waitin' for a place to stand |
| Or a decent job or a helpin' hand |
| Wherever there's somebody strugglin' to be free |
| Just look in their eyes and you'll see me" |
| The highway is alive tonight |
| Nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes |
| I'm sittin' downhere in the campfire light |
| Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad |
| The highway is alive tonight |
| Nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes |
| I'm sittin' downhere in the campfire light |
| With the ghost of old Tom Joad |