Lyrics of American cars

I stole an american car
It took me two places i'd never been
One was just beyond my home state line
& the other was in the state pen
I felt guilty for what i'd done
I pulled off to the side of the road & prayed
There were newspaper men all around at the scene
You probably read about it the very next day

As i sit here behind this windscreen tonight
I wonder back through my awkward flight
We were teenagers in classrooms, but young adults in bars
I search my mind over & grit my teeth
& dance down the right lane of old 18
I believe in broken hearts & american cars

I was the one who never got away
She lost her shirt taking a gamble on me
I choked back liquor & was speechless
As she opened the door on permanent leave
But while i sped along the open road
& tasted my last breath of free air
In that two-tone coupe in my brief embrace
I left that mess in my rearview mirror

As i sit here behind this windscreen tonight
I wonder back through my awkward flight
We were teenagers in classrooms, but young adults in bars
I search my mind over & grit my teeth
& dance down the right lane of old 18
I believe in broken hearts & american cars

Three years later i stepped through the front gate
Feeling stronger in body & mind
She & i had made a vow, or a pact of some sort
Never to search & never to be unkind
How can one day lay in the middle of spring
& the next be the middle of fall
I started wondering if i was ever really there
Or if i'd stolen that car at all

Well, as i sit here behind this windscreen tonight
I wonder back through my awkward flight
We were teenagers in classrooms, but young adults in bars
I search my mind over & grit my teeth
& dance down the right lane of old 18
I believe in broken hearts & american cars