I want to talk about freedom
Because it's something I don't understand
I've got this automobile, I've got the wide road
I'm heading out to see the land
I've got this gravel truck in the lane ahead
Downshifting up a long climb
And I'm thinking "yeah, that's heavy"
I'm bouncing off the centerline
I want to talk about freedom
I want to talk about the open road
But I've got to get past this gear-grinding
Black smoke choking heavy load, oh
I want to talk about freedom
Because I lost good love to it
Love that felt like two gears meshed
And moving forward interknit
He said "I want my freedom back"
And though I let him go, I knew
I had never felt so free
As when I thought the search for love was through
I want to talk about freedom
I want to talk about the open road
But I've got to get past this gear-grinding
Black smoke choking heavy load
My grandfather lost his leg in the war
It was something that I owed to him
As though he himself had bought me my freedom
By cashing in his limb
It was too abstract for me
Now he's old and his mind's adrift
Free from time and s***e and purpose
Seems like a kind of grace, a gift
I want to talk about freedom
I want to talk about the open road
But I've got to get past this gear-grinding
Black smoke choking heavy load, oh
Well I'm glad I've got this road to drive on
I always like to think I'm free to go
And I want to talk about freedom
And what it cost to build this road
And all of my time that I've traded away
So I can buy into the machine
That drives the gears that drive the world
To keep pushing beyond its means
I want to talk about freedom
I want to talk about the open road
But I've got to get past this gear-grinding
Black smoke choking heavy load, oh
I want to talk about freedom
And the illusion of an open road
And all of these cars and all these people
Where we all came from and where it's all going to go
Because it's something I don't understand
I've got this automobile, I've got the wide road
I'm heading out to see the land
I've got this gravel truck in the lane ahead
Downshifting up a long climb
And I'm thinking "yeah, that's heavy"
I'm bouncing off the centerline
I want to talk about freedom
I want to talk about the open road
But I've got to get past this gear-grinding
Black smoke choking heavy load, oh
I want to talk about freedom
Because I lost good love to it
Love that felt like two gears meshed
And moving forward interknit
He said "I want my freedom back"
And though I let him go, I knew
I had never felt so free
As when I thought the search for love was through
I want to talk about freedom
I want to talk about the open road
But I've got to get past this gear-grinding
Black smoke choking heavy load
My grandfather lost his leg in the war
It was something that I owed to him
As though he himself had bought me my freedom
By cashing in his limb
It was too abstract for me
Now he's old and his mind's adrift
Free from time and s***e and purpose
Seems like a kind of grace, a gift
I want to talk about freedom
I want to talk about the open road
But I've got to get past this gear-grinding
Black smoke choking heavy load, oh
Well I'm glad I've got this road to drive on
I always like to think I'm free to go
And I want to talk about freedom
And what it cost to build this road
And all of my time that I've traded away
So I can buy into the machine
That drives the gears that drive the world
To keep pushing beyond its means
I want to talk about freedom
I want to talk about the open road
But I've got to get past this gear-grinding
Black smoke choking heavy load, oh
I want to talk about freedom
And the illusion of an open road
And all of these cars and all these people
Where we all came from and where it's all going to go