Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Written during a layover at an exit outside of Gillette, Wyoming, the fifth track on The Unraveling describes a typical small city in the United States, as well as the struggles of the people who inhabit many such places.
The parking lot beyond Oasis town
Down the street from the Mexican
Restaurant beyond the Auto Zone
And the place that's hawking payday loans
There's a K-Mart and a KFC
A fitness center and an Applebee's
Wells Fargo and a Taco John's
A good time bar to get your bad swerve on
In a town that's named for razor blades
All American but Chinese made
Folks workin' hard for shrinkin' pay
21st century USA
Out I-90 we might see you pass
We got coal and methane gas
We got jobs where the work is hard
And stores to max out your credit cards
In a town that ain't nowhere near
Just like every town everywhere
Folks workin' hard for shrinkin' pay
They say we have to hang on just a little bit longer
And a savior will come our way
We'll know Him by the neon sign
And the opulence He maintains
If Amazon can deliver salvation
I'll order it up on my phone
With Big Brother a-watching me always
Why must I always feel so alone?
Men working hard for not enough at best
Women working just as hard for less
They get together late at night at bars
And bang each other like crashing cars
Working hard but it don't seem enough
Calloused hearts make even love seem tough
Prescription pills to make the pain hurt less
'Til your calloused heart just needs a rest
Look at your children and you hope and pray
They can conjure up a better day
No one remembers how it got that way
21st century USA
21st century USA
21st Century USA was written by Patterson Hood.
21st Century USA was produced by David Barbe.
Drive-By Truckers released 21st Century USA on Fri Jan 31 2020.
On the Drive-By Truckers website, Patterson Hood writes that “21st Century USA” was
the song that for me opened up the floodgates, enabling me to write my portion of the album.
Yes, Patterson Hood describes how he ended up writing the song before Drive-By Truckers perform it for the first time.