(Verse 1) Somewhere outside Albuquerque In the middle of the night The Greyhound came to a stop Beneath a sea of flashing lights I woke up half confused Trying to figure where we were When a man in a uniform Asked if I was traveling alone, sir I said, "Yeah." He raised an eyebrow Like he wasn't sure what he'd heard (Verse 2) He asked me for identification I said I didn't have a card Just a birth certificate somewhere Buried deep inside my bag So I'm digging through old wrappers Postcards, maps and who knows what While everybody on that bus Was suddenly paying attention Then he asked me where I'm from And that's when things got strange (Chorus) Ashtabula That's all I had to say The man just started laughing And everything changed He said, "Son, you're good." Then shook his head and smiled "No Mexican would ever make up A name like that." (Verse 3) The whole bus started breathing Like somebody hit release All the tension disappeared And everybody settled back in their seats I finally found my paperwork About thirty seconds late By then nobody cared The moment had escaped The officer waved us onward The driver put it back in gear And Albuquerque faded Into another memory (Chorus) Ashtabula That's all I had to say The man just started laughing And everything changed He said, "Son, you're good." Then shook his head and smiled "No Mexican would ever make up A name like that." (Bridge) I've told that story dozens of times And every time I do People think I'm making it up Honestly... I probably would too (Final Chorus) Ashtabula A town beside a lake A word that somehow saved me From the longest night awake The bus rolled through New Mexico And disappeared from sight But I'll never forget The border patrol agent Who knew I wasn't worth the fight (Outro) Where you from, son? "Ashtabula, Ohio." "Yeah... You're good."
