This Town Is Gonna Die

The air base closed down back in sixty one Folks around here said we better buy us some guns Daddy planted a garden, kept the yard mowed Watched those jeeps crank up and go on down the road He said son remember today but don’t ask me why Cause this town is gonna die This town is gonna die Integration came to the schools in sixty five A lot of white folks got scared just being alive Daddy walked me to the bus and watched me board As a slow falling rain dirtied his fifty nine Ford Son remember today but don’t ask me why Cause this town is gonna die This town is gonna die The carpet mill shut down back in eighty four Mama was one of the last to punch out on the clock by the door Daddy sat unemployed on the front porch reading the news Flipping Viceroy cigarettes near the soles of his shoes Son remember today but don’t ask me why Cause this town is gonna die This town is gonna die Downtown aint’ nothing but the vacant lots of empty stores No one even cares enough to go around there anymore Mama passed we had the funeral in the Baptist church in May Daddy died last summer in a county far away Son remember today but don’t ask me why This town is gonna die This town is gonna die Mama and Daddy are buried in the hard delta clay With the past hanging over the land where they lay I still call that town home but I live on the other side of the stars Cause memories of why everything died left too many scars Son remember today but don’t ask me why Cause this town is gonna die This town is gonna die