66/55
© sockdrawer studios
December 28, 1996
Rev. 06/03/01 11:55pm


Shirley got electricity back in 1939
Kept the milk from spoiling and rotting right there on the vine
just so happened when i drove through
shirley said she didn’t but i knew that she knew
all the power wasn’t flowing through all the lines

Normal had its heyday back in 1945
Almost half the town made it back half alive
there was a wife or two for every boy and girl
’cause we had all just beaten back the enemy of the world
and all that government money made it easy to survive

	The straightest shot became a straighter line 
	when route 66 became route 55
	now you can see it every time you go for a drive
	66 became 55

McLean didn’t care for Kennedy back in 1959
so they circled Chicago with a highway and called it the Dan Ryan
Shirley & Normal thought they would never need another road
Cause they built that 6 lane highway and thought it could carry any load
so shirley and normal just forgot what it meant to stop at a light

66 just became 55

There’s a new house in the center of town
they fight for all the parking spots from miles around
it’s all of seventy-five feet high and a mile and a quarter around
all that light, all that color, all that sound

Now Shirley became L.A. and Normal wants to be Las Vegas
so jackpot boats float down the river where Huck Finn said “Big Jim saved us.”
there is a coin or two for every girl and boy
if you think you earned it, it could not have been a ploy
you know that story is old ’cause history never changed it

	The straightest shot became a straighter line 
	when 66 became 55
	you can see it everytime you go for a drive
	see 66 just became 55

66 is off to the side
cause it’s the service road
of 55
and ½ the town
is ½ alive