Safe on the interstate
New York is three thousand miles away
And I'm not looking forward to following through
But it's better than always running back into you

I've closed my eyes and my bank account
And gone west, young man

Take off the parking brake
Go coasting into a different state
And I'm not looking forward to missing you
But I must have something better to do
I've got to tear my life apart
And go west, young man

And it feels like I've got something to prove
But in some ways it's just something to do
My friends turn me around and say,
"You go west, young man."

Stepping down off my platform shoes
Sixty-nine in the afternoon
And I'm waiting for someone in the know
Like Pirner tells me on the radio
Says "Take it from someone who's been there before,
You go west, young man."

And I'm looking for somebody to do my thinking for me
Till I come through
The state-line highway sign says,
"You have gone west, young man."

And it feels like I've got something to prove
But in some ways it's just something to do
The state-line highway sign says,
"You have gone west, young man."