Big Joe and Phantom 309

See, I just happened to be back on the East coast a few years back I was trying to make me a buck like everybody else I'll be damned if times didn't get hard, and Christ I got down on my luck And I got tired of just roaming and bumming around So I started thumbing my way back to my old hometown And you know, I made quite a few miles in the first couple of days You know, I figured I'd be home in a week if my luck held out this way You know, it was the third night, oh and I got stranded And it was out at a cold lonely crossroads And as the rain came pouring down, man I was hungry Yeah, I was hungry, tired and freezing, caught myself a chill But it was just about that time Yeah, it was just about that time that the lights of an old semi topped the hill You should've seen me smile when I heard them air brakes come on Yeah, and I climbed up into that cab where I knew it'd be warm At the wheel... well, at the wheel sat a big man And I'd have to say he must've weighed two ten As he stuck out a big hand and he said with a grin 'Big Joe's the name, and this here rig is called Phantom 309' Well, I asked him why he called his rig such a name And you know, he turned to me and said 'Why son, don't you know this here rig'll be putting 'em all to shame Nah, there ain't a driver No, there ain't a driver on this or any other line for that matter that That's seen nothing but the taillights of Big Joe and Phantom 309' So we rode and we talked the better part of the night And I told my stories and Joe told his And I smoked up all his Viceroys as we rolled along Pushed her ahead with ten forward gears Man, that dashboard was lit like the old Madame La Rue pinball Serious semi-truck 'Til almost mysteriously Well, it was the lights of a truck stop that rolled into sight Joe turned to me, said 'I'm sorry son, but I'm afraid this is just as far as you go, you see You see, I kinda gotta be making a turn just up the road a piece' I'll be damned if he didn't toss me a dime as he threw her in low and said 'Go on in there son, and get yourself a hot cup of coffee on Big Joe' I mean to tell you, when Joe and his rig pulled off into the night Man, in nothing flat they was clean outta sight So I walked into this stop, well I ordered me up a cup of mud Saying 'Big Joe's setting this dude up' But it got so deadly quiet in that place Yeah, it got so deadly quiet in that place, you could've heard a pin drop And as the waiter's face turned kind of pale I said 'What's the matter, did I say something wrong?' I kind of said with a half way grin He said, 'No son, you see it'll kinda happen every now and then 'Cause every driver in here knows Big Joe, son, but But let me tell you what happened just ten years ago out there Yeah, it was years ago, out there at that cold lonely crossroads And there was a whole busload of kids And then they were just coming from school And they were right in the middle when Joe topped the hill and They could've been slaughtered except Joe turned his wheels And he jackknifed, yeah he jackknifed, and he went into a skid And you know, folks around here, well They say he gave his life to save that bunch of kids And out there at that cold lonely crossroads Well, they're saying it was the end of the line for Big Joe and Phantom 309 But it's funny you know, cause... cause every now and then Yeah, every now and then when the moon's holding water Well, they say that old Joe'll stop and give you a ride It seems, just like you, some hitchhiker will be coming by' 'So here, son,' he said to me, 'you get yourself another cup of coffee It's on the house, I kind of want you to hang on to that dime Yeah, I kind of want you to hang on to that dime as a souvenir I want you to keep that dime as a souvenir of Big Joe Of Big Joe and Phantom Big Joe and Phantom 309'