I am the salt on the road
Waiting for winter to go
The tires hum a low gray song
While the afternoon rolls along
Counting the steps of the wheel
Sinking in red desert steel
Sinking in red desert steel
Turning the clay into real
Opuntia grows by the line
Holding a slow, steady sign
Cacti keep watch in the heat
Measuring every new beat
Counting the steps of the wheel
Sinking in red desert steel
Sinking in red desert steel
Turning the clay into real
Yucca blooms pale in the glare
Scent of the sage in the air
The rubber burns hot on the skin
Where the long highway begins
Counting the steps of the wheel
Sinking in red desert steel
Sinking in red desert steel
Turning the clay into real
Bouteloua sways in the breeze
Bending its gold-colored knees
The cyclist counts one by one
Under a white midday sun
The asphalt is hard and it's dry
Cutting a hole in the sky
I feel the vibration deep low
Watching the lonely man go
Silt and the loam hold the weight
Open and wide like a gate
The Arizona clay stays
Counting the slow summer days
Counting the steps of the wheel
Sinking in red desert steel
Sinking in red desert steel
Turning the clay into real
Sinking in red desert steel.
Red desert steel.
One, two, three.