The Ghost Of Tom Joad
Composer(s): Bruce Springsteen
First release by: Bruce Springsteen - 1995
Covered by multiple other artists



Men walkin' 'long the railroad tracks
Goin' some place, there's no goin' back
Highway Patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge

Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin' round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleepin' in their cars in the southwest
No home, no Job, no peace, no rest

The highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls prayer book out of his sleepin' bag
Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
Waitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
Got a one way ticket to the promised land
You got a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand
sleeping on a pillow of solid rock
Bathing in the city aqueduct

The highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad

Now Tom Said: "Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry new born baby cries
Where there's a fight 'gainst the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me mom I'll be there
Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a pIace to stand
Or decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes mom you'll see me"

Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad