Twenty years ago today

I left my town, I ran away

Nothing left to do or say

But pack it up and go

The winter sun was cold and bright

I nailed the doors and windows tight

And with a cigarette set that boat alight

And burned down all my past

I drifted through these western towns

No kind of work there to be found

Just men like me who stand around

With their hands shoved in their jeans

And the stories spread from time to time

"They're hiring further on down the line

Some burnt out mill or run down mine if you dare to go below

"But the jobs were rumours or plain lies

Or the mines closed when men died

Or sickened from the fumes and the dyes

And the poisons in the air

No more to stand in line

Ashamed to beg for what was mineListening to some lawyers lying

About how no one's to blame

Like broken dreams these broken hills

These broken men bereft of will

With haunted eyes and time to kill

In the barroom's neon glow

Night slams a fist down on this day

The dancers on the floor all sway

Laughter harsh as an asses' bray

Or the calling of a crow

So come on now and fill my glass

Help these empty hours pass

I'm sick I'm empty I'm dry as ash

Fill it up, come on, let's go

Twenty years ago today

I left my town and ran away

Looking for that brighter day

And the dreams that never came