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The Lost Highway

from Old Blue Truck by Charles de Lint

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about

What writer hasn't been tempted to write "It was a dark and stormy night..."? To be honest, I didn't even realize I was doing that until the first time I introduced this song at a gig. Setting the scene, there were no other words to use except for that infamous phrase.

This particular "lost highway" runs between Westport and MacDonald's Corners, Ontario and it was indeed a dark and stormy night as MaryAnn, her sister Jane and I drove to a Fred Eaglesmith show one evening. We didn't see any car crashes or ghosts, but alas, there were lots of suicide frogs.

lyrics

They say the devil lives up the line
Got himself a place where the sun don't shine, you see
He's making whiskey out of people's souls
The kind that die young and never get old--not me

refrain:
I hear a voice and it's calling, high and lonesome in the rain
Says she's still waiting on me, waiting...on the lost highway

Mona went walking on a stormy night
She's dressed in black, just had a fight with me
I put the dog in the car and went looking for her
Drove up and down, all around the curves, you see
It's the little things that you can't forget
The night was dark, the road it was wet and cold
There were suicide frogs dying under my wheels
A crack of lightning and the thunder's peal, too close
refrain

I come around a curve and there she was
In the middle of the road, my heart filled with love for her
I couldn't stop, my tires just squealed
So I hit the gas and I yanked the wheel out of the curve
We tore through the rail, that old hound and me
And dropped into the night, down a hundred feet or more
When Mona found me, I'd dragged myself clear
There was rain in her eyes, though it might have been tears, she said don't go
I tried to hold on, coughing blood and rain
The dog was gone and there wasn't much pain no more
refrain

They say the devil lives up the line
Got himself a place where the sun don't shine, you see
If you see a ghost coming out of the fog
Got a long dark coat and a big black dog, that's me
refrain

credits

from Old Blue Truck, released March 1, 2011

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about

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Charles de Lint Ottawa, Ontario

A full-time writer and musician, this author of more than eighty adult, young adult, and children’s books has won the World Fantasy, Aurora, Sunburst, and White Pine awards, among others. Modern Library's Top 100 Books of the 20th Century poll, voted on by readers, put eight of de Lint's books among the top 100. De Lint is also a poet, artist, songwriter, performer and folklorist. ... more

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