Highway Patrolman

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This song is the fifth track on Springsteen’s sparse, hauntingly beautiful 1982 album Nebraska. “Highway Patrolman” is a story song much like those written by some of… Read More

Sep. 30, 19821 viewer42.5K views

Highway Patrolman Lyrics

[Verse 1]
My name is Joe Roberts
I work for the state
I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville
Barracks Number 8
I always done an honest job
As honest as I could
I got a brother named Frankie
And Frankie ain't no good

[Verse 2]
Now, ever since we was young kids
It's been the same comedown
I get a call on the shortwave
Frankie's in trouble downtown
Well, if it was any other man
I'd put him straight away
But when it's your brother
Sometimes you look the other way

[Chorus 1]
Yeah, me and Frankie laughing and drinking
Nothing feels better than blood on blood
Taking turns dancing with Maria
As the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's straying
Like any brother would
A man turns his back on his family
Well, he just ain't no good

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[Verse 3]
Well, Frankie went in the army
Back in 1965
I got a farm deferment
Settled down, took Maria for my wife
But them wheat prices kept on dropping
'Til it was like we were getting robbed
Frankie came home in '68
And me, I took this job

[Chorus 2]
Yeah, we're laughing and drinking
Nothing feels better than blood on blood
Taking turns dancing with Maria
As the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's straying
Teach him how to walk that line
A man turns his back on his family
He ain't no friend of mine

[Verse 4]
Well, the night was like any other
I got a call 'bout quarter to nine
There was trouble in a roadhouse
Out on the Michigan line
There was a kid lying on the floor, looking bad
Bleeding hard from his head
There was a girl crying at a table
And it was Frank, they said

[Verse 5]
Well, I went out and I jumped in my car
And I hit the lights
Well, I must've done a hundred and ten
Through Michigan County that night
It was out at the crossroads
Down 'round Willow Bank
Seen a Buick with Ohio plates
Behind the wheel was Frank
Well, I chased him through them county roads
'Til a sign said "Canadian border, five miles from here"
I pulled over on the side of the highway
And watched his taillights disappear

[Chorus 1]
Me and Frankie laughing and drinking
Nothing feels better than blood on blood
Taking turns dancing with Maria
As the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's straying
Like any brother would
A man turns his back on his family
Well, he just ain't no good

About

This song is the fifth track on Springsteen’s sparse, hauntingly beautiful 1982 album Nebraska.

“Highway Patrolman” is a story song much like those written by some of Springsteen’s greatest influences, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. It tells the story of a police officer who is torn by the urge to defend his law-breaking brother who came back a mess after Vietnam, or to do his job correctly.