text: See, I just happened to be back on the East Coast a few years back
  I was trying to make me a buck like everybody else
  Ill be damned if times didnt get hard
  And Christ I got down on my luck
  And I got tired of just roaming and bumming around
  So I started thumbing my way back to my old hometown
  And you know, I made quite a few miles in the first couple of days
  You know, I figured Id be home in a week if my luck held out this way
  You know, it was the third night, oh and I got stranded
  And it was out at a cold lonely crossroads
  And as the rain came pouring down, man I was hungry
  Yeah, I was hungry, tired, and freezing, caught myself a chill
  But it was just about that time
  Yeah, it was just about that time that the lights of an old semi topped the hill
  You shouldve seen me smile when I heard them air brakes come on
  Yeah, and I climbed up into that cab where I knew itd be warm
  At the wheel... well, at the wheel sat a big man
  And Id have to say he mustve weighed 210
  As he stuck out a big hand and he said with a grin
  Big Joes the name and this here rig is called Phantom 309
  Well, I asked him why he called his rig such a name
  And you know, he turned to me and said
  Why son, dont you know this here rigll be putting em all to shame?
  Nah, there aint a driver
  No, there aint a driver on this or any other line for that matter
  That, thats seen nothing but the taillights of Big Joe and Phantom 309
  So we rode and we talked the better part of the night
  And I told my stories and Joe told his
  And I smoked up all his Viceroys as we rolled along
  Pushed her ahead with ten forward gears
  Man, that dashboard was lit like the old Madame La Rue pinball
  Serious semi-truck
  Till almost mysteriously
  Well, it was the lights of a truck stop that rolled into sight
  Joe turned to me, said Im sorry son, but Im afraid this is just as far as you go
  You see, I kinda gotta be making a turn just up the road a piece
  Ill be damned if he didnt toss me a dime as he threw her in low and said
  Go on in there, son, and get yourself a hot cup of coffee on Big Joe
  I mean to tell you, when Joe and his rig pulled off into the night
  Man, in nothing flat they was clean outta sight
  So I walked into this stop, well I ordered me up a cup of mud
  Saying Big Joes setting this dude up
  But it got so deadly quiet in that place
  Yeah, it got so deadly quiet in that place, you couldve heard a pin drop
  And as the waiters face turned kind of pale I said
  Whats the matter? Did I say something wrong?
  I kind of said with a halfway grin
  He said, No, son, you see itll kinda happen every now and then
  Cause every driver in here knows Big Joe, son, but
  But let me tell you what happened just ten years ago out there
  Yeah, it was years ago out there at that cold lonely crossroads
  And there was a whole busload of kids
  And then they were just coming from school
  And they were right in the middle when Joe topped the hill and
  They couldve been slaughtered except Joe turned his wheels
  And he jackknifed, yeah he jackknifed, and he went into a skid
  And you know, folks around here, well
  They say he gave his life to save that bunch of kids
  And out there at that cold lonely crossroads
  Well, theyre saying it was the end of the line for Big Joe and Phantom 309
  But its funny you know, cause... cause every now and then
  Yeah, every now and then when the moons holding water
  Well, they say that old Joell stop and give you a ride
  It seems, just like you, some hitchhiker will be coming by
  So here, son, he said to me, you get yourself another cup of coffee
  Its on the house, I kind of want you to hang on to that dime
  Yeah, I kind of want you to hang on to that dime as a souvenir
  I want you to keep that dime as a souvenir of Big Joe
  Of Big Joe and Phantom
  Big Joe and Phantom