Tom Waits - Big Joe & Phantom 309 Lyrics
Well you see I happened to be back on the east coastA few years back tryin to make me a buckLike everybody else, well you knowTimes get hard and well I got down on my luckAnd I got tired of just roamin and bumminAround, so I started thumbin my wayBack to my old hometownYou know I made quite a few milesIn the first couple of days, and iFigured Id be home in a week if myLuck held out this wayBut you know it was the third nightI got stranded, it was out at a cold lonelyCrossroads, and as the rain camePouring down, I was hungry, tiredFreezin, caught myself a chill, butIt was just about that time thatThe lights of an old semi topped the hillYou should of seen me smile when iHeard them air brakes come on, andI climbed up in that cab where iKnew itd be warm at the wheelWell at the wheel sat a big manId have to say he must of weighed 210The way he stuck out a big hand andSaid with a grin big joes the nameAnd this here rigs called phantom 309Well I asked him why he called hisRig such a name, but he just turned to meAnd said why son dont you know this hereRigll be puttin em all to shame, whyThere aint a driver on thisOr any other line for that matterThats seen nothin but the taillights of big joeAnd phantom 309So we rode and talked the better part of the nightAnd I told my stories and joe told his andI smoked up all his viceroys as we rolled alongHe pushed her ahead with 10 forward gearsMan that dashboard was lit like the oldMadam la rue pinball, a serious semi truckUntil almost mysteriously, well it was theLights of a truck stop that rolled into sightJoe turned to me and said Im sorry sonBut Im afraid this is just as far as you goYou see I kinda gotta be makin a turnJust up the road a piece, but Ill beDamned if he didnt throw me a dime as heThrew her in low and said go on in thereSon, and get yourself a hot cup of coffeeOn big joeAnd when joe and his rig pulled off intoThe night, man in nothing flat they wasClean outa sightSo I walked into the old stop andOrdered me up a cup of mud sayinbig joes settin this dude up butIt got so deathly quiet in thatPlace, you could of heard a pin dropAs the waiters face turned kindaPale, I said whats the matter didI say somethin wrong? I kindaSaid with 8a half way grin. he saidno son, you see itll happen everyNow and then. you see every driver inHere knows big joe, but let meTell you what happened just 10 yearsAgo, yea it was 10 years agoOut there at that cold lonely crossroadsWhere you flagged joe down, andThere was a whole bus load of kidsAnd they were just comin from schoolAnd they were right in the middle whenJoe topped the hill, and couldHave been slaughtered exceptJoe turned his wheels, andHe jacknifed, and wentInto a skid, and folks around hereSay he gave his life to save that bunchOf kids, and out there at that coldLonely crossroads, well they say itWas the end of the line forBig joe and phantom 309, but itsFunny you know, cause every now and thenYea every now and then, when theMoons holdin water, they say old joeWill stop and give you a ride, andJust like you, some hitchhiker will beComin byso here son, he said to me, getYourself another cup of coffee, its on theHouse, you see I want you to hang onTo that dime, yea you hang on to thatDime as a kind of souvenir, aSouvenir of big joe and phantom 309
