Janis Ian Jackie Skates Lyrics

Jackie skates across the freeway like a suicide in steel Scatters ashes of her memory to the wind behind the wheel It's the road that makes the rhythm It's the chalk marks on her soul It's the task that he's been given To keep her memory whole

She was younger than forever She was older than goodbye and she never saw the trucker as he wove across the line Just another L.A. drifter with the freeway in her blood And she never knew what hit her when she ran right out of luck

It was Jackie called the parents It was Jackie won the prize It was Jackie fed the silence When they could not meet his eyes It was Jackie took the body It was Jackie packed her stuff and he never really loved her, though he liked her well enough
Sometimes at night he sees her from the corner of his eye And he's just about to tell her that he has no alibi It's fate that makes the moment That's what he wants to cry But the words he needs are frozen He can't even say goodbye

Jackie skates across the freeway Like a suicide in steel Scatters ashes of her memory to the wind behind the wheel