With a backpack full of yesterdays
On a freeway full of smoke and haze
Where the power lines and fault lines double cross
I left our yellow porch light on
No one will notice no one's home
And no one else will notice what was lost

I lost my home when the deal went bust
To the so called security and trust
I planned my life the way they said I should
I sent my wife and kids ahead
I'm right behind you, so I said
I'll be there when I get there if that's good

Now I'm leaving California for the dust bowl
They took it all, there's nowhere else to go
The pastures of plenty are burning by the sea
I'm just a homeland refugee

There's a plastic sack by a barbwire fence
A burned out beer truck full of dents
A dried up stock pond's by an old canal
Between the towns the desert sands
Filling up with empty cans
Container trains, casinos and canals

Now I'm leaving California for the dust bowl
They took it all, there's nowhere else to go
The pastures of plenty are burning by the sea
I'm just a homeland refugee

My Grandpa used to tell about
The way the bankers drove them out
In the wind and the dust in the crash of '29
They crossed the desert, headed west
They swore that it was for the best
They reassured the ones they left behind

There's some refugees from Mexico
Behind an abandoned Texaco
We nod and smile, it's clear we're all the same
For everything this world is worth
We're all just migrants on this earth
Returning to the dust from where we came

Now I'm leaving California for the dust bowl
They took it all, there's nowhere else to go
The pastures of plenty are burning by the sea
I'm just a homeland refugee

I'm leaving California for the dust bowl
They took it all, there's nowhere else to go
The pastures of plenty are burning by the sea
I'm just a homeland refugee