The Cowardly Traveller Pays His Toll

Simon JoynerSimon Joyner 

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Simon Joyner

Simon Joyner (born 1971) is a singer-songwriter from Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Considered by some[citation needed] to be the forefather of the burgeoning Omaha music scene[citation needed], he has profoundly influenced the music of Bright Eyes. Joyner also collaborated with John Darnielle, of The Mountain Goats, and Beck listed Joyner in his top 10 albums when asked by Rolling Stone. He is also famous for the so called "Peel Incident," when famous British DJ John Peel played his album The Cowardly Traveller Pays His Toll from beginning to end on air. Joyner is named after Paul Simon. more »

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The Cowardly Traveller Pays His Toll

Just get in your car
and strap yourself in tight
Fix your eyes on a distant point
and turn on the headlights
Push your foot to the floor,
and lock both your doors,
so I can’t chase you anymore, my friend

And please don’t slow down
until you hear that old, cold ocean
or until you think you hear somebody drowning
or some other body suffocating
Then take a deep breath slowly
and say a Hail Mother Mary
that you won’t see me ever again, my friend

You’re going to split open the mountains
because you’re on that thin ribbon of highway
where all the men from the prisons
will be shoving signs in the shoulder blades
“Your lane is coming to an end”
And you don’t love me anymore, my friend

There’s a toll-taker at the end of the turnpike
holding up a million cars
He’s everything you pictured as you traveled through the dark,
sitting on the bank of a million stars
and if he waves you through and tells you to
beware of falling rock and landslides,
you’ll see that murder in his eyes
as he drops your change into the drawer

And, if you wonder why there’s murder in his eyes,
it’s because you don’t need him anymore

 Watch: New Singing Lesson Videos Can Make Anyone A Great Singer