I woke up this morning; Lord I got those Twenty-nine blues
I say I woke up this morning with the Route Twenty-nine blues
I know I've got to drive it today; there's just no way to choose

Yes I got those 29 blues, and I'm blue as I can be
I got those Seminole Trail blues; I tell you it's not much fun to see
Won't be home anytime soon -- Don't you go expecting me

Now Eight-one's by Staunton, so far off to the west,
Other side of Richmond, that route Ninety-five's the best
But 'round here Route Twenty-nine's the only road you get

Been times I cruised down Twenty-nine south of here you know
And times I've cruised up Twenty-nine as far as I could go
But right 'round here we're oozing -- there's no cruisin' any more

I've been staring at the back end of your car for a mile
Trying to figure out your cryptic message - it makes me smile
Sure you're trying to tell us something - I'll get it in a while

Yes I've got my opinions - politics, I've got a view
And I've got some religion, got my position there, too
I just haven't figured how to fit it on my bumper like you do
(Is OBX code for obnoxious?)

Those 29 blues -- 18-wheeler slowing down in front of me
Big rig with signs and lights and mudflaps, on the brakes suddenly
Are you turning trucker-man? Why don't you signal so we all can see?

Here's a trooper in the right lane, just poking along the road
Smoky in the right lane, I see now why we slowed
Everybody driving nice and smiling, in a law-abiding mode

Now mister, I know you need that high and mighty SUV
It makes you feel good, the master of all you see
But you're blocking out a lot of my world, you're taking charge of me

I need to make my left turn way up ahead
Got to be cool, signal, check my mirrors and calm my dread
Getting over on this road sometimes takes a real steady head

A lot of cars in the left turn lane all waiting for the light
Yes cars and trucks in the left lane, being good and sitting tight
I get in behind them -- just got to be patient and do right

The little arrow lights up, but nobody moves to go
That left turn arrow's green, but nobody moves to go
I see the light way up there, and nothing moving through

You got kid in a car seat, over to the right of you,
Yes a kid in that car seat, lady, over to the side of you,
I see you looking over, I just don't know what you're gonna do

The light's changing but you're not attending to the view
The light's gone green and you're not looking where you ought to
You're fussing with your baby, nothing the rest of us can do

Now I'm seeing something strange way off up ahead
I'm driving and seeing something off the road ahead
Something weird -- all twisted - is it the springs off a bed?

But sometimes the lights are green as far as you can see
Yes sometimes from Barracks Road here, north out to infinity
(Gonna keep rolling)
Green lights cure my blues, rolling along's the way it's s'posed to be

Green light ahead, and then the next one green
Green light ahead, then the next one turns green
No feeling like it, smoothest sailing I've ever seen
(But it doesn't happen often)

Over there's where there'll be one more mall some day
And on beyond, a Target store - coming soon, they say
(It's ten lanes now, for goodness sake)
But where will all the cars go to get there anyway?

So I've got those twenty-nine blues, and I'm blue as I can be
I got those Seminole Trail blues; I tell you it's not much fun for me
I got these twenty-nine blues,
Won't be home anytime soon
Don't you wait up for me.

--Lyric and photos: Dave Sagarin

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