Driving Back to Hurricane

A hundred years ago, though it was struggle living in a remote, rural place, the Utah pioneers could work hard and make a place to live in the presence of Zion National Park. But as Zion has grown in popularity and Springdale, the town at the gateway to Zion, has developed, it has gotten harder and harder for younger people to live there. As in other beautiful places in the West, many of the folks who work in the local restaurants, shops and motels cannot afford the price of Springdale’s rising real estate. Though they contribute much to the local economy and culture, at the end of their shift they must drive back down the road to their homes, often 30 or 40 miles away. (To hear this song,.click here.)

She works two long shifts but she can’t afford to live in town
She has two little girls to make dinner for when she gets home
Now she changes sheets in the motel rooms
And makes the bathrooms shine
Before she clocks out and points her lights
Down State Route 9

     Driving back to Hurricane
     Before the sun goes down
     Driving back to Hurricane
     Because she can’t afford to live in town

He cooks breakfast at the lodge and dinner at the coffee shop
He sleeps in his car in between his shifts, in the parking lot
If he could work the same hours in just one place
Then he’d do just fine
But the bosses say don’t want to pay
No over time

     Driving back to Hurricane
     Before the sun goes down
     Driving back to Hurricane
     Because he can’t afford to live in town

They say this town was built by the hard-working pioneer
Now you work just as hard as they once did, but you can’t make enough to live here
Once you could raise a family here, and still pay your bills
Now at the end of the day, collect your pay, and head down the hill

     Driving back to Hurricane
     Before the sun goes down
     Driving back to Hurricane
     Because they can’t afford to live
     Driving back to Hurricane
     Before the sun goes down
     Driving back to Hurricane
     Because they can’t afford to live in town