He was standing by the highway
With a sign that just said Mother
When he heard a driver coming
About a half a mile away
So he held the sign up higher
Where no decent soul could miss it
It was ten degrees or colder
Down by Boulder Dam that day
He was raised up in Milwaukee
Though he never was that famous
He was just a road musician
To the taverns he would go
Singing songs about the ramblin'
The lovin' girls and gamblin'
How the world fell on his shoulders
Back in Boulder I don't know
Now he's traded off his Martin
Though his troubles ain't over
His feet are almost frozen and the sun is sinking low
Won't you listen to me brother, if you ever loved your mother
Please pull off on the shoulder, if you're goin' Milwaukee way
It's ten degrees and getting colder down by Boulder Dam today
The first time I heard this song was when my daughter gave me a cassette copy of Nanci Griffith's album Other Voices, Other Rooms which was released in 1993.
The first time I heard this song I cried. It made me think of my son Douglas who used to hitchhike to come see me when he was in his late teens. By then hitchhiking had been labeled as a risky thing to do and it scared me that Doug would take chances. It also worried me that he wouldn't get a ride when the weather was so cold. (As it is today!)
This song also reminds me of the time I, with my three children, was driving down the interstate on our way to my parents' farm for the weekend. We passed a young man with his thumb out. I hesitated and in a matter of seconds decided to stop for him. He was so grateful because he was trying to get to Kansas City for his grandmother's funeral. I apologized because we would only be going ten or fifteen miles before we'd have to let him out when we exited toward the farm.
Even though the weather wasn't bad, even though it was only a few miles, I felt good about picking up the hitchhiker - his mother was waiting for him to get home that day.
If you ever loved your mother, please pull off on the shoulder.
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