Transit

INTRO: B


The merge from the turnpike was 
murder, but it's never a cinch
It was Friday at five, and no one 
              C
was giving an inch
They squeezed and they edged and 
     D
they glared
C                      D         
Half of them clearly impaired by 
C
rage or exhaustion
                             B
The rest were just touchy as hell



Somewhere near Paterson everything 
slowed to a crawl
The all-news station was thanking 
                C
someone for the call
                                 D
It's a van from St. Agnes' choir
          C                        
There's a nun out there changing a 
     D
tire
       C                           
By the time they got by her, 
                 B       Am
tempers were out of control


So they all hit the gas in a dash 
              C
for position
Bobbing and weaving and flashing 
                  Em
their high-beams

Flipping the bird and screaming 
obscenities
  C                                
A well-insured hoard, hell-bent on 
       B
Saturday



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And so they continued, west-bound 
and into the sun
Law and decorum constraining nary a 
C
one
                              D
By then it was devil-may-care
      C                      D
Not a one even vaguely aware
             C                   
That they had come all the way to 
                        B      Am
the Delaware Water Gap



But how had it happened? They had 
                        C
all missed their exits

How had it happened? Was it some 
kind of vortex?
    Em
And in they all went, bumper to 
bumper
C
Faster and faster, no sign of a 
trooper
    G
And in they all went, like sheep to 
the slaughter
D
Bankers and carpenters and doctors 
and lawyers
    Em
And in they all went, families in 
minivans
C
Democrats, Republicans, weekend 
militiamen
     G
They followed the river, and rounded
 the bend
        D
Between Minsi and Tammany and into 
their destiny
Em
Lying in ambush, right there before 
them
    C                         
The angry old sun right on the 
      B
horizon



Sister Maria tightened the bolts of 
the spare
She said a quick prayer and put the 
             C
old van into gear
Thank god that the traffic was light
D

       C                        D
If she hurried she might not be late
         C                       
For that evening's performance at 
                        B        Am
the state penitentiary


She entered the common room and 
                     C
there was her choir

Altos and baritones, basses and 
tenors
Em
Car thieves and crack dealers, 
mobsters and murderers
C
Husbands and sons, fathers and 
brothers
    G
And so it began in glorious harmony
D                                 
Softly and tenderly calling for 
         Em
you and me

The interstate crying way off in the
 distance
        C
And the sun going down through the 
bars of the prison
     G                           
They poured out their souls, they 
                           D
poured out their memories

They poured out their hopes for 
what's left of eternity
   Em                           
To sister Maria, her soul like a 
       C
prism