K.C. Frogge: Music
Car At the End of the World
(K.C. Frogge)
March 10, 2005
Lyrics and Music by K.C. Frogge, 2005
Walking through the Haight-Ashbury one afternoon, I was astounded at the sheer numbers of young people hanging around shopfronts, doorways and on street corners in numbers I had never before seen. I wondered, "how many of them will actually survive the meager existence of relying on handouts, charity and stacked living, sometimes 10 or more to a one-bedroom flat?" I wondered, what if there was someone who actually had a plan to come here and not only survive but thrive? What if someone had a life more difficult from where she came, only to discover that once on her own and able to think for herself, free for the first time in her life and idealistic in her wants, that she could make her simple, idealistic dreams come true? I found that girl, channeled her 16-year old fantasy life from a dysfunctional home in suburban New Haven, Connecticut, and set her sights on driving to the end of the world, San Francisco, California, and the ocean that would inspire her to start fresh.
I'm gonna break away like the last leaf on a tree
before the howling winds of winter get their chance to freeze...
the only house I've ever known ain't shelter no more to me
'cause Daddy's fallen off the deep, deep end;
my brother's doin' eight to ten,
and mama says she's gonna leave again... then won't.
But I'm gonna break out of this minimum-security cell
in a haven from New Haven
that's more like a living Hell
The world is getting flatter with sixteen years under my belt...
I've seen it all, been there, done that...
worn just about every hat
and a vision urges me to pack: I close my eyes and see
I'm sitting in my car at the end of the world
And I'll find me a reason, standing tall with my flag unfurled
Taking my chances and rolling the dice,
going for broke as I open my eyes
and watch the sunset skies
in my car at the end of the world.
Told my cousin I was coming through Cleveland next week
She said "It's hard to find work but you can stay with the baby and me...
I've run myself into the ground chasing a dream that used to be.
But we've got an extra room that you can use
while you're deciding what road to choose." And I told her
"Thanks, but I'm leaving after reading the morning news."
Crossed the mighty Mississippi, followed that compass West...
red clay prairies, snow-capped peaks and an occasional rest
An oasis in the desert, let this be my last request...
Until the moment it was in my reach,
now every day and night I can feel the beach,
and the stains on a past-life's fabric bleach
fainter and fainter away
Sitting in my car at the end of the world
And I'll find me a reason, standing tall with my flag unfurled;
staking a claim to impossible dreams
to amplify whispers and silence the screams
with a change of scenes in my car at the end of the world.
As the shore reached for the caress of the sea, I was mesmerized...
two dollars and three minutes later, back home, they knew I was fine.
Got a part-time job in a coffee bar, three housemates and a flat,
and the shelter I call home now is so much more than that.
'Cause every day the waves break with the dawn,
a little more of the pain and heartache is gone...
and I'm ready to live my life my way from now on
Sitting in my car at the end of the world
And I found me a reason, standing tall with my flag unfurled.
Taking my chances and rolling the dice,
going for broke as I open my eyes
and watch the sunset skies in my car at the end of the world.
And watch the sunset skies in my car at the end of the world...
and watch the sunset skies...