Dan Bern - Mexican Vacation Lyrics
Three years before the surface of the earth was uninhabitableBy human beings, I took a trainTo New York City, through the black hills of Ohio and thePennsylvania hills of acid rainIn those days folks were digging, always digging through the limestone,And the coal and granite and magnesiumFor the tunnels and the caves, subterranean rivuletsFor the moles that we eventually becameSlavery was everywhere, it was simply necessaryOtherwise the planet was a graveAnd sure I guess inevitably, it became a status thingSome people they just had to have a slavePeople were still bitter ’bout the forced sterilizationOf all but ten percent of the populationBut in a funny way the pressure of the hunt was off and soI took my little Mexican vacationUnderneath my seat was a flotation deviceIn case the train could not avoid the floodSixteen trains that summer had already gotten stuckWhere the Atlantic meets the Indiana mudOne half of the people on the train were policemenAs mandated by the senate of the worldBut still I somehow met and got to know and jumped the trainWith a runaway slavery girlOh, sha la laShake it, shake itRunaway slavery girlOh, sha la laShake your behindRunaway slavery girlEveryone had long forgotten ’bout footballAnd baseball and basketball and riceThe airports were shut and the cars had gone to rustAnd the hemispheres had both sunk twiceThe sky was purple and we hit the ground runningOur will was strong, our love was made to orderAnd all we really wanted to do was make itTo the Mexican-Canadian borderWe rambled through the hills, Pocahontas, Buffalo BillSometimes I found some work carbon datingAnd with nothing but our love and the shirts on our backAnd our biologically useless matingBut she rarely had my dinner servedAnd finally she got on my nervesAnd with nothing much left above ground in this worldSometimes you gotta look after yourself, yeahOne cold night in PhiladelphiaI turned in my runaway slavery girlSometimes it’s hotSometimes it’s coldSometimes it’s anybody’s guessSometimes you do what you have toThis was one of those times I guessAnd now that we’re all undergroundI sometimes wonder if she foundHer way or not, or if she’s still a slaveBut still and all there’s worse you knowAnyway it wasn’t personalJust something ’bout those West Virginia wavesThree years or maybe more like two and a halfBefore the earth was uninhabitable, I jumped aboard a trainTo New York City, through the black hills of Wisconsin and thePennsylvania hills of acid rainFolks were still adjusting to the preparatory chemicalsAdministered through widespread inhalationAnd so I settled back, nestled in and shut my eyesFor my final little Mexican vacationOh, sha la laShake it, shake itRunaway slavery girlOh, sha la laShake your behindRunaway slavery girl
