Ghost-Flame
08-09-2009, 08:16 PM
I heard this song for the first time to day. It reminded me of this place, this board.
Back before interstates you had one or 2 Gas station or the fillin station in every little town. We had one the man's name was Calvin, All they sold was Gas, mostly just regular from a mechanical metered pump, 6oz cokes in green bottles, Red Man, Dutch Masters and Marlboro and the old men would spit the chew out on the dirt floor of the shop while they played checkers and sneered at all us kids. They all had a plug of chew up in their cheeks and brown teeth. If they had any at all.
No matter what you needed, a jump, a tool to borrow, a tire tube patched or whatever. There were 2 types of oil straight 40w and 10w40.
These places don't exist anymore, really. they were gathering places, a place where people talked, got to know each other, and looked out for one another.
Anyway, this place reminds me of that place a little. Here are the lyrics.
Cisco Clifton had a fillin' station about a mile and a half from town
Most cars passed unless they were out of gas so Cisco was always around
Regular gas was all that it sold except tabacco matches and oil
Other than that he fixed lots of flats keepin' Cisco rough hands soiled
He'd wipe the gas and check the air in a hundred times a day
He patiently gave directions on how to get to the state highway
Usually he'd give 'em water or a tyre or two some air
And once a big black Cadillac spent seven dollars there
He'd give anybody anything they'd ask and lend anything he had
His tools are tyres bumperjacks or wire to the good ones or the bad
In wintertime there was a depot stove and a table for a checker game
And every mornin' at sunup the same checker players came
So Cisco Clifton's fillin' station was always in the red
Personal loans were personally gone but never a word was said
One mornin' at eight them checker players heard a big bulldozer roar like a freight
And Cisco said I hope my kids stay fed when they build that Interstate
He'd managed to pay for property where his little fillin' station sat
And friends still came for checker game so Cisco settled for that
He wouldn't say so but Cisco knew that the Interstate was too much to fight
But to keep his will and to pay his bills he did odd jobs at night
He still opened up at sunrise and the checker game went on
The cars flew past on hightest gas and the neighbors had sold out and gone
If a car ever did go by he was lost and if they stopped they were treated the same
So at Cisco Clifton's fillin' station there's a howdy and a checker game
Johnny Cash
Back before interstates you had one or 2 Gas station or the fillin station in every little town. We had one the man's name was Calvin, All they sold was Gas, mostly just regular from a mechanical metered pump, 6oz cokes in green bottles, Red Man, Dutch Masters and Marlboro and the old men would spit the chew out on the dirt floor of the shop while they played checkers and sneered at all us kids. They all had a plug of chew up in their cheeks and brown teeth. If they had any at all.
No matter what you needed, a jump, a tool to borrow, a tire tube patched or whatever. There were 2 types of oil straight 40w and 10w40.
These places don't exist anymore, really. they were gathering places, a place where people talked, got to know each other, and looked out for one another.
Anyway, this place reminds me of that place a little. Here are the lyrics.
Cisco Clifton had a fillin' station about a mile and a half from town
Most cars passed unless they were out of gas so Cisco was always around
Regular gas was all that it sold except tabacco matches and oil
Other than that he fixed lots of flats keepin' Cisco rough hands soiled
He'd wipe the gas and check the air in a hundred times a day
He patiently gave directions on how to get to the state highway
Usually he'd give 'em water or a tyre or two some air
And once a big black Cadillac spent seven dollars there
He'd give anybody anything they'd ask and lend anything he had
His tools are tyres bumperjacks or wire to the good ones or the bad
In wintertime there was a depot stove and a table for a checker game
And every mornin' at sunup the same checker players came
So Cisco Clifton's fillin' station was always in the red
Personal loans were personally gone but never a word was said
One mornin' at eight them checker players heard a big bulldozer roar like a freight
And Cisco said I hope my kids stay fed when they build that Interstate
He'd managed to pay for property where his little fillin' station sat
And friends still came for checker game so Cisco settled for that
He wouldn't say so but Cisco knew that the Interstate was too much to fight
But to keep his will and to pay his bills he did odd jobs at night
He still opened up at sunrise and the checker game went on
The cars flew past on hightest gas and the neighbors had sold out and gone
If a car ever did go by he was lost and if they stopped they were treated the same
So at Cisco Clifton's fillin' station there's a howdy and a checker game
Johnny Cash