In '46 we moved out here to Beaumont
To start a little business of our own
They built a freeway through in '62
Everything we had's now lost and gone
I see the men in the distance from my window
Faces in the cars look straight ahead
They roll on by too loud for comfort
But too far away to rent a motel bed

CHORUS
        So if you're passing on your way
        From Palm Springs to LA
        Give a wave to good ol' Dave
        Say hello to progress
        And goodbye to the Moonlight Motor Inn

Mother's sleeping in the back room
TV shows are the only life she has
Our son's now a Captain in the Air Force
And he can't find the time to write his proud old dad
Our daughter wants to leave the place at eighteen
And run away with a jobless Beaumont man
To hitch hike out of California
And make a life in the Rocky Mountain land

The sun comes up behind the freeway
Dad sits down by the dried up swimming pool
Can't make payments on the mortgage
Can't turn the red ink into blue
Weeds are growing through the gravel
And the blacktop's cracked and partly washed away
Our neon sign points in the wrong direction
The Moonlight Motor Inn closed down today