Lyrics

7. Travelin’ Shoes


I been hearin’ Grandpa’s ghost callin’ out to me

Lookin’ for that sweet land, California

Where the honeysuckle blossoms tumble to the sea

Lookin’ for that sweet land, California


Well, he walked out of Arkansas in nineteen thirty-four

Lookin’ for that sweet land, California

Didn’t want very much, just a little more

Lookin’ for that sweet land, California


chorus

There’s a scent of citrus on the breeze

And the land gets down upon its knees

To touch the ever-restless seas and wipe the slate clean


Well, Boulder City took him in with dust on his shoes

Lookin’ for that sweet land, California

No need to worry, son, we got no union dues

If you’re lookin’ for that sweet land, California


Well, he helped out with the gradin’ and they asked him if he’d stay

Lookin’ for that sweet land, California

Started up a family, put his travelin’ shoes away

And his thoughts of that sweet land, California


chorus

We’re carvin’ stone and liftin’ sand

We’re cuttin’ steel with burnished hands

We run the water ‘cross the land and turned the valleys green


Well, lying in the cool grass beneath a lemon sky

Thinkin’ ‘bout that sweet land, California

He said, I hope these shoes will take me to the sea before I die

Thinkin’ ‘bout that sweet land, California


Well, he took out those trusty shoes in the spring of sixty-nine

Thinkin’ ‘bout that sweet land, California

But sat down on his front porch and said, this is where I’ll lie

With my dreams of that sweet land, California


chorus

We carved the stone and lifted sand

We cut the steel with burnished hands

We run the water ‘cross the land and turned the valleys green

There’s a scent of citrus on the breeze

And the land gets down upon its knees

To touch the ever-restless seas and wipe the slate clean


I been hearin’ Grandpa’s ghost callin’ out to me

Lookin’ for that sweet land, California

Where the honeysuckle blossoms tumble to the sea

Lookin’ for that sweet land, California