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Highway Patrolman Lyrics
My name is Joe Roberts I work for the state
I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville barracks number 8
I always done an honest job as honest as I could
I got a brother named Franky and Franky ain't no good
Now ever since we was young kids it's been the same come down
I get a call over the radio Franky's in trouble downtown
Well if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away
But when it's your brother sometimes you look the other way
Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin' nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good
Well Franky went in the army back in 1965 I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wife
But them wheat prices kept on droppin' till it was like we were gettin' robbed
Franky came home in '68, and me, I took this job
Yea we're laughin' and drinkin' nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', teach him how to walk that line
Man turns his back on his family he ain't no friend of mine
Well the night was like any other, I got a call 'bout quarter to nine
There was trouble in a roadhouse out on the Michigan line
There was a kid lyin' on the floor lookin' bad bleedin' hard from his head there was a girl cryin' at a table and it was Frank, they said
Well I went out and I jumped in my car and I hit the lights
Well I must of done one hundred and ten through Michigan county that night
It was out at the crossroads, down round Willow bank
Seen a Buick with Ohio plates behind the wheel was Frank
Well I chased him through them county roads till a sign said Canadian border five miles from here
I pulled over the side of the highway and watched his taillights disappear
Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin'
Nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good
I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville barracks number 8
I always done an honest job as honest as I could
I got a brother named Franky and Franky ain't no good
I get a call over the radio Franky's in trouble downtown
Well if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away
But when it's your brother sometimes you look the other way
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good
But them wheat prices kept on droppin' till it was like we were gettin' robbed
Franky came home in '68, and me, I took this job
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', teach him how to walk that line
Man turns his back on his family he ain't no friend of mine
There was trouble in a roadhouse out on the Michigan line
There was a kid lyin' on the floor lookin' bad bleedin' hard from his head there was a girl cryin' at a table and it was Frank, they said
Well I went out and I jumped in my car and I hit the lights
Well I must of done one hundred and ten through Michigan county that night
Seen a Buick with Ohio plates behind the wheel was Frank
Well I chased him through them county roads till a sign said Canadian border five miles from here
I pulled over the side of the highway and watched his taillights disappear
Nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good
Song Info
Submitted by
oofus On Jun 05, 2004
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really sad, great storytelling. I can't really listen to this in public, because the strangest thing happens: water comes out of my eyes, especially on the "taillights disappear" part. Shit, it's happening again...
Johnny Cash does a great (better IMO) version as well.
I love how at the end of the first couple choruses the line about a man turning his back on his family sound like him justifying his support for his screwup brother, but then at the end it has a double meaning...him refusing to take his brother's freedom, and his brother favoring his criminal life to his family. Sad as hell.
The film "The Indian Runner" (directed by Sean Penn) was based off of this song
Great Song. Bruce is the man.
This song is almost unbearably sad and melancholy -- it's only a small story, but there's this great well of sadness and sorrow that lies beneath it that goes beyond anything on the surface of the song. Like the whole Nebraska album really. I love it ;-) Although it's obviously set in modern times, it has a timeless feel, especially the chorus, as if it's some centuries-old folk song Springsteen has adapted.
I have always been delighted by Bruce's purposeful use of place names and locations, ALWAYS making it seem familiar, yet the places he seems to pinpoint don't really exist! (Almost like no one being able to figure out where "Springfield" in the Simpsons really is.) The only "Perrineville" in the US is in New Jersey. Frank has Ohio plates. He is chased through "Michigan County" (there is no "Michigan County" in any state), to the Canadian border, the closest access from Ohio being Michigan! My other favorite (as a Utah resident) is in "Promised Land", where he leaves "Rattlesnake Speedway in the Utah desert" and travels across the "Waynesboro County line". The only Waynesboro County in the US is in Virginia!
A lot of songwriters use places and things that don't exist in their lyrics. Dylan wrote about 'the foggy ruins of time'. I'm never seen the foggy ruins of time, nor a picture of it, but I know exactly what it looks like because of the way the song is sung. Just like I can picture Michigan County and 1 car chasing another. They never existed, but you can see them in your mind plain as day. Choosing exact places and times might have been more accurate, but would not demand the use of the...
A lot of songwriters use places and things that don't exist in their lyrics. Dylan wrote about 'the foggy ruins of time'. I'm never seen the foggy ruins of time, nor a picture of it, but I know exactly what it looks like because of the way the song is sung. Just like I can picture Michigan County and 1 car chasing another. They never existed, but you can see them in your mind plain as day. Choosing exact places and times might have been more accurate, but would not demand the use of the listener's imagination. P.S. loved your comments, msgelter.
I love the truth and reality in this song. Sometimes you must do what you must do. I love this song.
F***ing great song... It must be the name Franky (as for Suicide's "Frankie Teardrop") that makes this song so haunting... I think you're 3000% right, Cherub Rock, nothing to add to it. I'm fond of your geographic references, msgelter...
"Taking turns dancing with Maria, as the band played Night of the Johnstown Flood". For me personally, this song is evocative enough in itself to form the basis of an entire dramatic production. With the guitar in the background...my God, such a powerful scene.
A very beautiful song. Probably one of my all time favorite Springsteen tracks. So evocative of a post Vietnam future for America.