Lyrics � 2005 Charlie King Pied Asp Music (BMI)
Music: � John McCutcheon, Appalsongs (ASCAP)
Used by permission

Editor's Note: I have been a fan of Charlie King since the 1970s, and a friend of both Charlie and Karen since the 1980s; I consider him one of the best social commentators of our time. This song and many other wonderful songs can be heard on Charlie King and Karen Brandow's 2006 CD, "On The Journey." He and Karen are not only wonderful songwriters/performers, but wonderful human beings. Visit his website at charlieking.org
—Shel Horowitz, editor, Frugal and Fashionable Living, Peace & Politics, and Global Arts Review.

I'm getting out of the passing lane, I'm gonna drive the limit
Gimme one good reason to maintain more than a mile a minute
Chasing deadlines someone fed me grip the wheel and floor the pedal. Hey!
Life's too short and oil's too deadly, I wanna take it slow

I'm getting off of the Interstate, I'm gonna drive the parkway.
Watch the trees instead of billboards, shun the Golden Archway
Highway fumes blow dark and swirly, road rage drivers make me surly
I'm gonna leave a half hour early, I wanna take it slow

I wanna get me a better car if I can find the bucks
I want a less voracious car, 'cuz I think this car sucks
First it sucks the gas tank dry, then it fouls the clear blue sky
Guess I could drive it 'til I die, but I want a better car

Birds and bees and flowers and trees'll thank me for a car less lethal
Hybrid, grease car, bio-diesel, I want a gentler car

I'm getting out of the drivers seat, I'm gonna ride the trolley
Wise men walk where fuels rush in, fossil fuels are folly
Green house gases vaporizin', icebergs meltin', oceans risin'
Startin' wars and spewin' poison, I'm gonna take the train

You support our troops with a stick on ribbon, who am I to scoff?
Just slap it over your gas cap, Friend, and never peel it off!

I'm getting out of these metal boxes, I'm gonna ride my bike
Breathe the air and smell the flowers, I'm gonna take a hike
I'm gonna move to some sweet town where you can walk to get around
Growing up and slowing down, I'm gonna take a walk