I was in the first grade, I was pumping gasoline Dad did the wrenchin' and Momma kept the books clean I could rebuild a carburetor By the time I was twelve years old I'll have you back on the road, get you back in your machine B is for Butch, Evelyn is Momma's name B&E Auto Service, just a block off Main Coming up on forty years All in all, not a bad career But after we lost Dad things began to change Each day there's a little less I recognize in my hometown It's hard, watching the little guys going down Oil and grime in the pores of my skin Think of all the brake dust I've been breathin' in I got a stack of new regulations And high tech specifications I can't keep up, too old to go to school again Stop lights we had one, now there's four And you can't see the shop from Main street anymore There's a new H.E.B. 'cross town But over here things are slowing down As I turn out the lights, lock up my front door Mom and pops like us don' t have a place in the world today The little guy shops don' t stand a Chance when the big guys start to play The old men in town meet for coffee every day If things go smooth I'll take my place come May Or I could set up the navigation Head out and see the nation Instead of watching my old friends fade away Each day there's a little less I recognize in my hometown And it's hard, watching the little guys going down. It's progress so they say but that don't mean I'm hanging 'round 'Cause it's hard, watching the little guys doing down