Noirsville Tune Of The Week

Big Joe And Phantom 309

See, I just happened to be back on the East coast a few years back

I was trying to make me a buck like everybody else

I'll be damned if times didn't get hard, and Christ I got down on my luck

And I got tired of just roaming and bumming around

So I started thumbing my way back to my old hometown

And you know, I made quite a few miles in the first couple of days

You know, I figured I'd be home in a week if my luck held out this way

You know, it was the third night, oh and I got stranded

And it was out at a cold lonely crossroads

And as the rain came pouring down, man I was hungry

Yeah, I was hungry, tired and freezing, caught myself a chill

But it was just about that time

Yeah, it was just about that time that the lights of an old semi topped the hill

You should've seen me smile when I heard them air brakes come on

Yeah, and I climbed up into that cab where I knew it'd be warm

At the wheel... well, at the wheel sat a big man

And I'd have to say he must've weighed two ten

As he stuck out a big hand and he said with a grin

'Big Joe's the name, and this here rig is called Phantom 309'

Well, I asked him why he called his rig such a name

And you know, he turned to me and said 

'Why son, don't you know this here rig'll be putting 'em all to shame

Nah, there ain't a driver

No, there ain't a driver on this or any other line for that matter that

That's seen nothing but the taillights of Big Joe and Phantom 309'

So we rode and we talked the better part of the night

And I told my stories and Joe told his

And I smoked up all his Viceroys as we rolled along

Pushed her ahead with ten forward gears

Man, that dashboard was lit like the old Madame La Rue pinball

Serious semi-truck

'Til almost mysteriously

Well, it was the lights of a truck stop that rolled into sight

Joe turned to me, said 'I'm sorry son, but I'm afraid this is just as far as you go, you see

You see, I kinda gotta be making a turn just up the road a piece'

I'll be damned if he didn't toss me a dime as he threw her in low and said

'Go on in there son, and get yourself a hot cup of coffee on Big Joe'

I mean to tell you, when Joe and his rig pulled off into the night

Man, in nothing flat they was clean outta sight

So I walked into this stop, well I ordered me up a cup of mud

Saying 'Big Joe's setting this dude up'

But it got so deadly quiet in that place

Yeah, it got so deadly quiet in that place, you could've heard a pin drop

And as the waiter's face turned kind of pale I said

'What's the matter, did I say something wrong?'

I kind of said with a half way grin

He said, 'No son, you see it'll kinda happen every now and then

'Cause every driver in here knows Big Joe, son, but

But let me tell you what happened just ten years ago out there

Yeah, it was years ago, out there at that cold lonely crossroads

And there was a whole busload of kids

And then they were just coming from school

And they were right in the middle when Joe topped the hill and

They could've been slaughtered except Joe turned his wheels

And he jackknifed, yeah he jackknifed, and he went into a skid

And you know, folks around here, well

They say he gave his life to save that bunch of kids

And out there at that cold lonely crossroads

Well, they're saying it was the end of the line for Big Joe and Phantom 309

But it's funny you know, cause... cause every now and then

Yeah, every now and then when the moon's holding water

Well, they say that old Joe'll stop and give you a ride

It seems, just like you, some hitchhiker will be coming by'

'So here, son,' he said to me, 'you get yourself another cup of coffee

It's on the house, I kind of want you to hang on to that dime

Yeah, I kind of want you to hang on to that dime as a souvenir

I want you to keep that dime as a souvenir of Big Joe

Of Big Joe and Phantom

Big Joe and Phantom 309'