I stole an American car
It took me two places I'd never been
One was just beyond my home state line
& the other was in the state pen
I felt guilty for what I'd done
I pulled off to the side of the road & prayed
There were newspaper men all around at the scene
You probably read about it the very next day
As I sit here behind this windscreen tonight
I wonder back through my awkward flight
We were teenagers in cla**rooms, but young adults in bars
I search my mind over & grit my teeth
& dance down the right lane of old 18
I believe in broken hearts & American Cars
I was the one who never got away
She lost her shirt taking a gamble on me
I choked back liquor & was speechless
As she opened the door on permanent leave
But while I sped along the open road
& tasted my last breath of free air
In that two-tone coupe in my brief embrace
I left that mess in my rearview mirror
As I sit here behind this windscreen tonight
I wonder back through my awkward flight
We were teenagers in cla**rooms, but young adults in bars
I search my mind over & grit my teeth
& dance down the right lane of old 18
I believe in broken hearts & American Cars
Three years later I stepped through the front gate
Feeling stronger in body & mind
She & I had made a vow, or a pact of some sort
Never to search & never to be unkind
How can one day lay in the middle of spring
& the next be the middle of fall
I started wondering if I was ever really there
Or if I'd stolen that car at all
Well, as I sit here behind this windscreen tonight
I wonder back through my awkward flight
We were teenagers in cla**rooms, but young adults in bars
I search my mind over & grit my teeth
& dance down the right lane of old 18
I believe in broken hearts & American Cars