INTRO: B 

       
The merge from the turnpike was murder, but it's never a cinch
                                                C    
It was Friday at five, and no one was giving an inch
                                      D
They squeezed and they edged and they glared
C                      D         C
Half of them clearly impaired by rage or exhaustion
                             B    
The rest were just touchy as hell



Somewhere near Paterson everything slowed to a crawl
                                                  C  
The all-news station was thanking someone for the call
                                 D
It's a van from St. Agnes' choir
          C                             D   
There's a nun out there changing a tire
       C                                            B       Am
By the time they got by her, tempers were out of control


                                                C
So they all hit the gas in a dash for position
                                                   Em
Bobbing and weaving and flashing their high-beams

Flipping the bird and screaming obscenities
  C                                       B
A well-insured hoard, hell-bent on Saturday



And so they continued, west-bound and into the sun
                                    C    
Law and decorum constraining nary a one
                              D
By then it was devil-may-care
      C                      D   
Not a one even vaguely aware
             C                                           B      Am
That they had come all the way to the Delaware Water Gap



                                                          C
But how had it happened? They had all missed their exits
                                                   
How had it happened? Was it some kind of vortex?
    Em
And in they all went, bumper to bumper
C                                       
Faster and faster, no sign of a trooper
    G
And in they all went, like sheep to the slaughter
D
Bankers and carpenters and doctors and lawyers
    Em
And in they all went, families in minivans
C
Democrats, Republicans, weekend militiamen
     G
They followed the river, and rounded the bend
        D
Between Minsi and Tammany and into their destiny
Em
Lying in ambush, right there before them
    C                               B   
The angry old sun right on the horizon



Sister Maria tightened the bolts of the spare
                                                 C     
She said a quick prayer and put the old van into gear
                                    D
Thank god that the traffic was light
       C                        D   
If she hurried she might not be late
         C                                               B        Am
For that evening's performance at the state penitentiary


                                                     C
She entered the common room and there was her choir

Altos and baritones, basses and tenors
Em
Car thieves and crack dealers, mobsters and murderers
C                                       
Husbands and sons, fathers and brothers
    G
And so it began in glorious harmony
D                                          Em
Softly and tenderly calling for you and me
    
The interstate crying way off in the distance
        C
And the sun going down through the bars of the prison
     G                                                      D
They poured out their souls, they poured out their memories

They poured out their hopes for what's left of eternity
   Em                                  C
To sister Maria, her soul like a prism