Highway Patrolman Testo

Words and music by Bruce Springsteen
From Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska

My name is Joe Roberts I work for the stateÝ 
I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville barracks number 8Ý 

I always done an honest job as honest as I couldÝ 
I got a brother named Franky and Frank he ain't no goodÝ 
Now ever since we was young kids it's been the same come downÝ 
I get a call on the shortwave Franky's in trouble downtownÝ 
Well if it was any other man, I'd put him straight awayÝ 
But when it's your brother sometimes you look the other wayÝ 

CHORUS 1:Ý 
Yeah, me and Franky laughing and drinking nothing feels better than blood on bloodÝ 
Takin' turns dancin' with Marie as the band played Night of the Johnstown FloodÝ 
I catch him when he's straying like any brother wouldÝ 
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no goodÝ 

Well Franky went in the army back in 1965Ý 
I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wifeÝ 
But them wheat prices kept on dropping 'till it was like we were getting robbedÝ 
Franky came home in '68, and me, I took this jobÝ 

CHORUS 2:Ý 
Yea we're laughing and drinking nothing feels better than blood on bloodÝ 
Takin' turns dancin' with Marie as the band played Night of the Johnstown FloodÝ 
I catch him when he's straying, teach him how to walk that lineÝ 
Man turns his back on his family he ain't no friend of mineÝ 

Well the night was like any other, I got a call 'bout quarter to nineÝ 
There was trouble in a roadhouse out on the Michigan lineÝ 
There was a kid lying on the floor lookin' bad bleedin' hard from his headÝ 
There was a girl crying at a table and it was Frank, they saidÝ 
Well I went out and I jumped in my car and I hit the lightsÝ 
But I must of done a hundred and ten through Michigan county that nightÝ 
It was out at the crossroads, down round Willow bankÝ 
Seen a Buick with Ohio plates behind the wheel was FrankÝ 

Well I chased him through them county roadsÝ 
'till a sign said Canadian border five miles from hereÝ 
I pulled over to the side of the highway and watched his taillights disappearÝ 

CHORUS 3:Ý 
Me and Franky laughing and drinking nothing feels better than blood on bloodÝ 
Taking turns dancing with Marie as the band played Night of the Johnstown FloodÝ 
I catch him when he's straying like any brother wouldÝ 
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good