Racing in the Streets Songtext

von Townes van Zandt

I got a sixty-nine Chevy with a 396
Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
She's waiting for me in the parking lot
Down by the Seven-Eleven store
Me and my partner Sonny we built her straight out of scratch
Now we're running from town to town
Aw, we go for the money, no strings attached
We shut 'em up and then we shut 'em down

We take all the action we can get
And we cover all the northeast states
And when the strip shuts down we run 'em in the streets
From the fire road to the interstate

Tonight tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow 'em all out of their seats
Summer's here and the time is right
For racin' in the streets

I met her on the strip three years ago
In this Camaro with a dude from L.A.
And I blew that Camaro off my back and I drove that little girl away
But now there's wrinkles all around my baby's eyes
And she cries herself to sleep at night
She just sits on the porch of her daddy's house
Says, "Baby did you make it home all right?"

Tonight tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow 'em off in my first heat
Summer's here and the time is right
For racin' in the streets

Some guys they just give up living
And start dying little by little piece by piece
Some guys get off work, go home and wash up
Go racin' in the street

So all you shut-down strangers and hot rod angels
Rumbling through this promised land
My baby and me we're gonna drive to the sea
And wash these sins off our hands

Tonight tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow 'em all out of their seats
Summer's here and the time is right
For racin' in the streets