Every time I see this Greyhound bus go rollin' down the line, Never goin' back to, never goin' back,
Makes me wish I talked much more to you when we had all that time.
Still it's only wishin', and I know it's nothin' more.
No never goin' back to Nashville any more.
Oklahoma City, yes, I know that she won't treat me cruel.
Denver, Colorado, never made me feel such a fool.
These are only cities, but they're cities without you.
All lyrics copyright John Stewart
The end of this song was inspired by Truffaut's film 'Fahrenheit 400'. Here the credits are read out at the end, same there. John had it all prepared beforehand, thinking up descriptive middle names for all those appearing on the album. He didn't tell anyone what he was going to do though - it was a complete surprise to to all. Nick Venet is called 'Zapetta' because he had recently been to Mexico looking at archeologiical sites. He also provided a Mexican drink - Tequilla at the sessions. One of John's favouite films is 'Viva Zapetta'. However he forgot to mention the backgroung singers - the Jordinaires. On the Phoenix Concert's album this of singing the credits is repeated.
Again a love of the past is the subject. The lines of the road, as in 'July', and the need to move on predominate. The driving rhythm beats off the introspective imagination. He wishes he had talked more to a woman (the same one as in 'You Can't Look Back'?). The cities theme of the first song returns (New York, now Oklahoma). These cities are no real home as his love (and bloodlines community aren't there). Neither is Nashville - though ironically John had found a great community of musicians there to help him on the album. The old longing for old California is expressed spatially through the road imagery. Ultimately it's only through song that it can be returned to. The power of song and the honest community of the past are simultaneously celebrated in this album. The previous historical /or fictional characters sung about are now joined by characters in the present. John gives a description of the musicians on the album. The past is linked to the present.