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The Day the Freeway Froze
Malvina Reynolds
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'Twas at 8:05 AM on a hot old July day
When a hiker got up on the Garfield Ramp
Where he wasn't supposed to be
He was hit by a Fairlane Riviera with automatic drive
And a Chevrolet Bel Air Coupe
And he didn't stay long alive
On the day the freeway froze
In Los Angeles, USA
'Twas a wondrous affair and I wish I'd been there
On the day the freeway froze
Well, the cars began to stop
But the ramps kept feedin' slow
And a Plymouth hardtop Belvedere
Was smacked by a Dynaflow
And some of them could have made it
Going out on a ramp marked "In"
But nobody does the like of that
Because that is a cardinal sin
Meantime down in town
At the Spring Street underpass
A couple of trucks collided
And one had a load of gas
It could have been a holocaust
'Cause no one could turn about
But the engines got up on the cloverleaf
And they put that fire out
On the day the freeway froze
In Los Angeles, USA
'Twas a wondrous affair and I wish I'd been there
On the day the freeway froze
Mister Gorbach sat at his wheel
A hungry man was he
And up ahead was an unmanned truck
From the big Helms Bakery
He opened the door marked "D"
And found donuts glazed and plain
And he pulled real hard and the door flew out
And the donuts fell like rain
Well, the people jumped around
And the donuts soon were gone
And Stanley Hackett, he had ten
But coffee he had none
Then somebody found a truck
That was full of cows and steers
And he opened the door
And the cattle strolled among the lanes and piers
A beacon van was stalled
And some ladies worked a mane
And they set themselves up in housekeeping
In the Harbor outbound lane
And a truckload of brassieres
Was very quickly gone
When they all cried "Viva Havana"
And they tied the armbands on
On the day the freeway froze
In Los Angeles, USA
'Twas a wondrous affair and I wish I'd been there
On the day the freeway froze
The greatest find of all
Was a wagon load of rum
It was all dealt out with a generous hand
To whoever wanted some
And a couple of guys they ran along
With car tops for their track
Wearing "Fight Cancer" sandwich boards
Which they carried front and back
It was seven hours they say
'Til the jam began to go
The last lost car was towed away
After eighty hours or so
Three thousand ice cream bars were sold
To the sound of the auto horn
Twenty-three people died that day
And three little babes were born
On the day the freeway froze
In Los Angeles, USA
'Twas a wondrous affair and I wish I'd been there
On the day the freeway froze
These details can be found
In city police reports
In interviews in the daily news
And the TV newsreel shorts
And all I do is tell to you
The facts as they arose
In the city of Los Angeles
The day the freeway froze