Salvation Way

The lads and I went racing
Along Salvation Way
Chrome plated Chevy's with engines roaring
We said "This is the way we'll stay"
There was Suzi and Johnny
Mary Jo and me
Two more crammed in to Billy's car
In a bid to be free

We'd all grown up together
We'd all graduated from school
Parents said we needed an education
But we knew that wasn't cool
So there we were driving along
Looking tough and feeling alright
Just some guys and girls out have a good time
On a fateful Saturday night

We passed along the Boulevard
Towards the heart of town
A little drunk but not over the limit
We checked out what was going down
Past the clubs and bars
And all those kind of things
Not caring what we said or did
Oh the confidence that being young brings

We all just kept on driving
Thought we'd drive till the morning sun
But then the night turned cold
That's when it all begun
Billy saw Laura with another guy
We saw the anger in his eyes
We knew that trouble was coming
When Billy threatened to cut him down to size

Billy got out of the car
Walked slowly over the road
Laura ran away from him
His anger he could not withhold
Billy screamed after his former girl
That he'd make her new guy pay
But his sentence was cut off in midstream
As Laura's new guy blew Billy away

We all just sat there stunned
Mary Jo started to cry
Surely Billy could not be dead
He was to young to die
I thought that Billy was immortal
I guess that I was wrong
And as I covered his body with my coat
I knew that Billy was gone

Now I'm older and wiser
And we've all gone our separate ways
No longer a rebel ripping up the road
Like I was in my younger days
Laura's settled down as well
Her man got thirty years
I remember when Billy said he'd found true love
His parents said it would end in tears

But as I drive the Big old Buick
Once more down Salvation Way
I think of the times we had
We all had a part to play
And I think of my dear friend Billy
And a tear comes to my eye
Billy you will never be forgotten
Your memory will never die   

 

Reviews

[An owl on the moon]

I read your words, felt the movement of that tragic night, and just sat stunned. What a powerful revelation, something so personal and yet so profound for all of us looking back through your eyes. Everything you create here flows with both the life that was and the memory that remains. Amazing writing.