Here are the lyrics and audio for "Runaway," an original bluegrass runaway-truck song by Lannie Dietle. This cautionary tale was inspired by real wrecks on the steep, winding descent of Pennsylvania Route 160 from Big Savage Mountain through the little Appalachian town of Wellersburg. There, on that treacherous mountainside, many an unfortunate trucker has experienced the unforgiving downhill pull of the deadly gravity express. Enjoy the free lyrics, historical notes, and streaming audio below.
From Big Savage mountain ridge,
downward to that North Branch bridge,
a steep and winding road you won't believe.
It's just five miles of blacktop road,
but it's the subject of this little ode,
a warning song to drivers near and far.
That rugged old mountain side,
ruined many a trucker's pride,
brakes getting hot as we speak.
I see the speed limit signs,
but they ain't seen me drive,
that's what them flat-landers think.
Take it down in first gear,
ain't what they wanna hear,
so down the mountain they streak.
They all learn way too late,
you cain't trust no air brake,
not on that long, long descent.
Roar'n down the mountain side,
to the left and right they slide,
learnin' to pray as they go.
God keep me on this road,
I've got a heavy load,
they beg as the drums start to glow.
Smoke billows from each wheel,
pads no longer rubbing steel,
it's way too late for heel and toe.
Roaring past a family car,
the bottom can't be all that far,
don't let me kill anyone today.
Some make the board yard curve,
as back and forth they swerve,
but none make that church turn below.
My ole truck hits eighty-five,
oh God, keep me alive,
and clear the road ahead as I go.
Houses now are flashing by,
looks like it's do or die,
and a little white church looms ahead.
Dear Lord, I'm gonna crash,
wish I hadn't been so rash,
and I'm way too young to be dead.
Think of my family,
my kids, my wife, I want to see,
let me be with them after tonight.
I turn the steering wheel,
all the tires they start to squeal,
and the trailer skids out to the right.
Now trucks don't do sideways well,
dear God let me live to tell,
what a giant mistake I have made.
The truck rolls over on its side,
the church stops the awful slide,
as the cab breaks free from the frame.
I guess this ride ain't over yet.
now up against a tree I set,
as the rest of my load tumbles by.
I stagger to the ground,
surprised that I'm still around,
I stare at the smoking truck frame.
I guess there's a lesson here.
Heed them signs that say first gear,
or better yet, take the long way around.
Stay away from Wellersburg,
that's the lesson I want heard,
cause five miles is a long-ways down.
Five miles is a whole lot of down...
Thoughts on this bluegrass runaway truck song
After crossing the crest of Big Savage Mountain, Pennsylvania Route 160 follows a steep and winding route that passes through the town of Wellersburg as it descends into Maryland. After various runaway truck wrecks in and near Wellersburg, including wrecks that demolished the church I attended as a child, I wrote the bluegrass song "Runaway" as a cautionary tale.
The runaway truck wreck described in the song is fictional. Nevertheless, many of the wreckage details in the song are absolutely true — they just didn't all happen in the same accident.
The descent from the crest of Big Savage Mountain
The following topographical map shows the area referenced in my runaway truck song. The yellow dot identifies the crest of Big Savage Mountain. The red dot shows the former location of the little white church in the village of Wellersburg, Pennsylvania, before that church was destroyed by two consecutive runaway trucks. The blue dot shows the end of the 5+ mile grade at Barrelville, Maryland. The "board yard curve" is the sharpest turn on the descent. From that point on, the road runs along the flank of a spur of Big Savage Mountain that is locally (but unofficially) known as Wellersburg Mountain.
This topo map shows the steep and rugged terrain referenced in my bluegrass runaway truck song "Runaway." The yellow dot identifies the crest of Big Savage Mountain, and the red dot identifies the former location of the little white church, where several trucks have crashed. The blue dot identifies the end of the road, and its lowest point.
Reflections
The "Runaway" truck song sits in a rare corner of the bluegrass tradition. While bluegrass is rich with train wrecks, coal disasters, mountain ballads, and hard-traveling narratives, it almost never turns its attention to runaway truck stories — a theme far more common in country trucking songs. By focusing on a brake failure on a dangerous mountain grade, "Runaway" brings a modern transportation danger into a bluegrass idiom that typically looks to railroads rather than highways for its cautionary tales. The result is a song that feels both familiar in its Appalachian storytelling and strikingly uncommon in its subject matter, giving "Runaway" a unique place within the Bluegrass genre.
Try these other songs about Appalachia
Now that you've heard my runaway truck song, here are some other songs you might enjoy that are also rooted in Appalachian tradition and regional storytelling:
