Purple Gas

I've got plates for purple gas
About the only break I catch
But I am not the kind of man
To blame the dealer on a losing hand
Have a lone star in my eye
The darker the sky the brighter it shines
Pumpjack cheques and baler twine
A ton of grit or maybe it's spite

And if I weren't a flatland boy
I'd say I have a hill
A hill that I will die upon
If the climb don't get me killed
If there were such heights around here
For a guy to lay his pride
Maybe I'd rest before I died
If I weren't a flatland boy

I hammer down, hair straight back
World blurs past, tell me how's it that
My horizon line's static
I guess at least it's a sure bet
Was taught to not throw the first fist
But if you take a hit, finish that sonofabitch
In a life having the upper hand's a myth
Your only fighting chance is too stubborn to quit

And if I weren't a flatland boy
I'd say I have a hill
A hill that I will die upon
If the climb don't get me killed
If there were such heights around here
For a guy to lay his pride
Maybe I'd rest before I died
If I weren't a flatland boy

Retired rail ties, point 9 wire
Neighbour kid on the fencing pliers
Fargo that turns over fine
At 40 below if you cuss it right
A sly thumb of Rye sometimes
Keep a bottle hid with the Bio-Mycin
You can dull the edge, you can look ahead
But can't get there - it goes on forever

Oh it just goes on forever
You keep your head down, it goes on forever

But I've got plates for purple gas
Oh I've got plates for purple gas