Текст песни Gospel Roads - The Americans

Lift Him Up, That's All
He whistled as he filled his old suitcase
I threw my crutches in the trunk
Sealed the oils, and packed it all away
Every crossroad looked alike to me
In the poor towns where we drove
Just a dusty country highway
But my father called them gospel roads

When he raised his voice
They'd fall silent as if called by name
He spoke of people long ago
Living places far away
We'd shill them like the carnival
The old and the young
Turned their pockets inside-out
And blessed our hearts for doing what we'd done

We brightened up their faces
Once weary and forlorn
They'd discover but a clever scheme
Where visions of their hopeful dreams were born
I'd put my hand in his
When it was time to go
We'd strike our tent and kick up dust
All the way back up that gospel road

He'd sand down his brand new boots
I'd read aloud his sermon
We drove all the way to Arkansas
On other people's money that we'd turned
My father used to warn them
One day it will all fall apart
Now that I know it to be true
I wonder if, for once, he was speaking from his heart

When the day came to bury him
I had a chance to start anew
But you stick to what you know
I took to his once I'd outgrown my Sunday suit
I pulled up my grieving roots
Before they had a chance to grow
I cut him from my memory
And I drove east down some old gospel road

The fire of greed burns so richly
In the torches on the walls
You can't take your eyes off it
Even as your castle falls
I know my loving mother
Raised me better than that
I used to wonder why she bothered
The whole world looked so much brighter from where she sat

At the table in the small room
At the end of the hall
Where I learned many a fable
All to do with righteousness and law
I can't take my mind off it
When the nights end alone
I see her face among the souls I sold
Into a heaven that I'll never know

Now when I drive down
Those old gospel roads
I feel closer to those tales of sin
I seldom understood, but often told
Lift Him up, that's all
It's all that I know
But the game's played out and every door's
Been boarded up along those gospel roads