The Road Goes On Forever
By Robert Earl Keen

E
Sherry was a waitress at the only joint in town
    A
She had a reputation as a girl who'd been around
   E
On mainstreet after midnight a brand new pack of cigs
  A
A fresh one hangin from her lips, a beer between her legs
    B7
She rides down to the river and meets with all her friends
    A                                         E
The road goes on forever, and the party never ends


Sonny was a loner, older than the rest
He was goin' in the Navy, but couldn't pass the test
So he hung around town, he sold a little pot
The law caught wind of Sonny and one day he got caught
But he was back in business when they set him free again
The road goes on forever and the party never ends


Sonny's playin' eight-ball in the joint where Sherry works
when some drunken out-of-towner put his hand up Sherry's skirt
Sonny took his pool cue, laid the drunk out on the floor
Stuffed a dollar in her tip jar, walked out the door
She's running right behind him, reaching for his hand
The road goes on forever and the party never ends


They jumped into his pickup, Sonny jammed it down in gear
Sonny looked at Sherry, said "Let's get on out of here"
The stars were high above them, the moon was in the east
The sun was setting on them when they reached Miami Beach
They got a hotel by the water, a quart of Bombay Gin
The road goes on forever and the party never ends


They soon ran out of money but, Sonny knew a man
who knew some Cuban refugees, who dealt in contraband
Sonny met the Cubans in a house just off the route
with a briefcase full of money and a pistol in his boot
The card were on the table when the law came bustin' in
The road goes on forever and the party never ends


The Cubans grabbed the goodies, Sonny grabbed a jack
broke the bathroom window and climbed on out the back
Sherry drove the pickup through the alley on the side
where a lawman tackled Sonny and was reading him his rights
She stepped out in the alley with a single shot four-ten
The road goes on forever and the party never ends


They left the lawman lying, they made their getaway
Got back to the motel just before the break of day
Sonny gave her all the money, he blew a little kiss
If they ask you how this happened say I forced you into this
She watched him as his taillights disappeared around the bend
The road goes on forever and the party never ends


Its main street after midnight, just like it was before
twenty-one months later, at the local grocery store
Sherry buys a paper and a cold six-pack of beer
The headlines say that Sonny is going to the chair
She pulls back onto mainstreet in her new Mercedes Benz
The road goes on forever and the party never ends