EUREKA
James Michael Taylor
My motto is INWARD THRU THE FOG. One day about a month ago, Laura ‘Taylor’ Whitfield told me I should, “write that song.” Thinking back on a fog-bound night in California, I wrote it. Norman Pilcher, a friend from Texas, and I were headed north up the Redwood Highway headed toward Portland, Oregon when we blew a back tire and hit the ground pretty hard.
EUREKA Key of Em
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Riding (EM) buddy behind Norman. (C) 101 up California
Dumped the (AM) bike out in the (D) middle of the (Em) road
Cracked my helmet on the pavement
That old road’s a cruel assailant
Throw a tire and you take that body blow
Drag the (C) bike into the red woods
Cover (Em) up with moss and dead wood
Crunch of (Am) pine cones as you limp back to the (B) road
That old Avenue of Giants parallels that Redwood Highway
Cardboard sign that says Eureka is our goal -
Zip our coats, it’s getting colder as we step up on the shoulder.
Two big thumbs out at the bend at Hodges Road
I think, “Oh, no, here comes a Smoky.”
Pulls it over, drives real slow, he stops the car
Opens the door and says, “Let’s go.”
Drops us off outside Maranda. Fifty miles now from Eureka
Moon is waning and the air as thick as snow
There, we languish in the silence
As Norman’s feet yield to the violence
I take my sox off and he pulls them on real slow -
Soggy mist glows in the moonlight
As we slip into a mud slide
and get tangled in the darkness down the slope
Busting blisters in my sneakers. Sweaty toes, like naked sisters
Another Eureka Moment if you’re keeping score
And I’m not one to grovel, if it matters I read the novel
And I’ll be there no matter where I go
The fog hangs at eye-lever. About five feet above the devil
and I know you know I know -
Finally reached Eureka Junction in the wake of our malfunction
Where stranded hippies leave laments along the road
My sleeping bag was made of paper but that night it was my savior
Thanks to some entrapinour in Idaho
Red dress ria el portuna. Sin quinta down to nada
Eureka’s just another town along the road
Paul Smith Some of your tunes fit right in with a soundtrack feel like "Pulp Fiction". I love it. 🎶