Intro: D F#m G A D
Verse
D G D
Well I spent my whole life since I was high as a knee
D A
By that two-lane blacktop they call Route 23
D
My daddy ran a service station
G D
And the pumps they did shine
D F#m G D
I'd watch him wash the windshields, keep the old look to that mind
Verse
D G D
Well the days they were long, but the money was good
D A
The only things that changed were the seasons and the shapes of the hoods
D G D
'Til the government came on the radio in late '55
D F#m
Said the state's gonna build a new highway
G D
One that's fast, smooth and wide
G Bm D
With that new highway, no one stops here anymore
D G D A
And you can't make living without swinging that door
D G D
The sign by the roadside still says "Come On In"
F#m G D
But the bulbs are long since burnt out, not to light up again
Verse
D G D
Now daddy was as stubborn as a mule in the snow
D A
He said, "Good folks return to the places that they know"
D G D
But after the gravel arrived and those steamrollers whined
D F#m
All those good folks left me and daddy
G D
And those two lanes behind
G Bm D
With that new highway, no one stops here anymore
D G D A
And you can't make living without swinging that door
D G D
The sign by the roadside still says "Come On In"
F#m G D
But the bulbs are long since burnt out, not to light up again
Instrumental: D D F#m G G G A D
Verse
D G D
Now the calendar on the wall still reads 19 and 75
D A
No one crossed out the day that my daddy died
D G D
We laid him in the ground 'neath that old sycamore tree
D F#m G D
That shades a boarded up gas station... out on Route 23
G Bm D
With that new highway, no one stops here anymore
D G D A
And you can't make living without swinging that door
D G D
The sign by the roadside still says "Come On In"
F#m G D
But the bulbs are long since burnt out, not to light up again
F#m G D
Yeah, the bulbs are long since burnt out, not to light up again