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We traveled down I-5 from Northern California to Southern California. The haze, smog and pollution were overwhelming. With no AC in the Plymouth, I had all my windows rolled down, yet there was still no air circulating. The oven-hot air stank of heavy metals and burning rubber. Smog burned my eyes and congested my lungs. Grit stuck to my face and in my teeth. Cars wove in and out of lanes in road warrior apocalyptical fashion. Had I made a mistake? I missed cool, green Berkeley, my tree lined, flower strewed neighborhood, and my dear friends I left behind. I was already terribly homesick. They say everyone’s car breaks down in Barstow or Bakersfield; but Mitch and I managed to pass by all the overheating and trashed vehicles on the side of the road. I tried to concentrate on Merle Haggard, a guitar strumming Buddha from Bakersfield (if there ever was one). Luckily, I had a few CD’s of his handy. So, I popped one in the boom box and listened to Merle croon; as big ol’ tears cascaded down my grit covered face. I thought of my parents, now in their 80’s and living in the South, one of the reasons this wayward daughter was returning home. I had runaway from my West Virginia home when I was 17 years old.
Sing Me Back Home
Lyrics: Merle Haggard
Music: Merle Haggard
The warden led the prisoner
Down the hallway to his doom
I stood up to say goodbye like all the rest
And I heard him tell the warden
Just before they reached my cell
Let my guitar-playin’ friend sing my request
Chorus
Sing me back home
A song I used to hear
Make my old memories
Come alive
Sing me away
Turn back the years
Sing me back home
Before I die
I recall last Sunday morning
When a choir from off the street
Came in to sing a few old gospel songs
And I heard him tell the singers
There’s a song my mama sang
Could I hear it once before you travel on
[chorus]
The warden led the prisoner
Down the hallway to his doom
I stood up to say goodbye like all the rest
And I heard him tell the warden
Just before they reached my cell
Let my guitar playin’ friend sing my request
Let him
Chorus
Sing me back home
Before I die
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