The pilot heard the bulletin
He panicked and flew off again
Stranding three Americans
Stranded and in disarray
An hour short of New Year's Day
There came shouts and smoke from far away
They wandered to the marketplace
In search of food or friendly face
Some comfort in this city far from home
The stalls were closed the streets were bare
But they met a drunken padre there
Who said the rebels held Cathedral Square
Yeah hey
Terrified they begged a ride
To safety down the mountainside
Crowded in and fled the riots
The city's roar soon fell away
The cluck of startled hens beneath the hay
The grind of gears the sway of stars
They thanked him as the night rolled past
The campesino laughed
And with his finger drew a circle on the seat
"It's like sitting round a fire
You can't see the faces of the people sitting on the farthest side
You can only feel the heat"
Yeah hey
At road's end the moon a sliver
Slipped into a quiet river
Cattle lowed and huddled on the shore
The village slept the indigenas
Dreaming off the Cana
Rose and marigold naranja and the haze of copal
"I have two souls one which wanders
You're standing on the other one
The rain that fell upon my father is the river of my sons
And sure as this new day will dawn
When the military comes
Tell them this is our home the road we're ever on"
We are the memory of the road we're on
And just as we have the right to our beliefs
The road can name us pilgrims
But it cannot name the path we'll keep
A new year a new year
New cup to catch the same tears
Pale in the January sun
The road gathers itself and then gone
Like this moment just the past on its way to passing on
Yeah hey