California Snow

I'm just tryin' to make a livin'
I'm an old man at thirty-nine
With two kids and an ex-wife
Who moved up to Riverside
I'm an agent on the border
I drive the back roads every night
Mountains east of El Cajon
North of the Tecate line

Where the California summer sun
Will burn right through your soul
But in the winter you can freeze to death
In the California snow

I catch the ones I'm able to
And watch the others slip away
I know some by their faces
And I even know some by name
I guess they think that wе're all
Movie stars and millionaires
I guеss they think their dreams and hopes
Will all come through up here

And I bet the weather's warmer down in Mexico
And no one ever warned them of the California snow

Last winter I found a man and wife
It was just about daybreak
Layin' in a frozen ditch
North of the interstate
I wrapped 'em in a blanket
Lord, but she'd already died
We shipped the man on back alone
South of the borderline

I don't know where they came from
Or where they'd hoped to go
But he carried her body all night long
Through the California snow

Man the things I've seen up here
Make me think about my live
I might go back to Riverside
And try to fix things with my wife
Or maybe just get in my truck
And drive as far as I can go
Away from all the ghosts that haunt
The California snow

Where the California summer sun
Can burn right to your soul
And in the winter you can freeze to death
In the California snow