The Purps

Lyrics

Junk Hauler
Music and lyrics by B. Rummer

He’s been around for as long as I remember
He gathered up what my family didn’t need
As the debris piled up past his stake-rack…
I watched him drive away with my old memories

Sometimes I still think about them
Was it a landfill he took them to?
He makes his way through the neighbors’ refuse
Collecting the dreams they outgrew

He sorts through what’s left behind
Compiles his modest goldmine
Through the stories, the secrets
He’s seen it all
Just another day’s work, just another haul

As the years ticked by
The junk hauler stayed in the same profession
Emptied their rooms as the babies grew
Through the booms and the recessions

As vocations go, he’s on a plateau
People are born and people are dying
He doesn’t witness the joy or the pain
Just collects the tangibles at the end of the drive

And no one admires the junk hauler
As he drags their trash through the yard
So wrapped up in the standards expected
Sometimes we forget who we really are

That’s how the story goes
I watched him haul away his last load
His job was taken over by some faceless corporation
Although I never knew his name
I remember my mother saying
‘Your dreams and memories are safe’
‘He’ll find them a home'