10 DEGREES AND GETTING COLDER
Gordon Lightfoot
1971


He was standin' by the highway, with a sign that just said "Mother"
When he heard a driver comin', about a half a mile away
Then he held the sign up higher so 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
Singin' songs about the ramblin', the lovin' girls and gamblin'
How the world fell on his shoulders back in Boulder I don't know.

(bridge)

It was out in Arizona that he heard the lady listening
To each word that he was sayin', to each line that he would write
So he sat down by her table and they talked about the weather
Ninety-eight point six and risin', down by Boulder dam that night.

And she told him she would take him
For a ride in the morning sun
Back in Boulder he had told her
I don't know when I had a better friend.

Now he's traded off his Martin but his troubles are not over
For his feet are almost frozen and the sun is sinkin' 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.




(Transcribed by David Story - February 2013)