Words and music 
1984 by Jim Bearden
Verse 1:
Well, I’ve been creeping, and I’ve been stopping;
As the time goes by, my hopes are dropping
That I’m ever going to get to work today ‑‑
Seems like every car in this state is in my way.
They call it the Bayshore Freeway, but to people here it’s not ‑‑
They just call it the 101 Parking Lot.
Chorus:
Well, we’ve got sunny days and we’ve got blue skies,
We’ve got high‑tech and we’ve got low‑rise;
We’ve got a standard of living that’s almost as high
As the prices of the houses we buy.
But if there’s one thing I’d like to lose,
It’s these Silicon Valley 101 Parking‑Lot Blues.
Verse 2:
Well, it’s a valley of micro‑systems ‑‑
They narrow gaps to micro‑inches;
And it seems like everybody on 101
Just can’t wait to get to work to get that job done.
But I wish that all these high‑tech lane‑jumpers
Would narrow their gaps somewhere else but my bumpers.
Chorus
Verse 3:
The other lane seems to be open,
So I move over, because I’m hoping
That it’ll keep moving faster, but it seems, instead
That all it needed was me to make it go dead;
And as I come to a stop, and all my hopes die,
I see the lane I just came from go speeding right by.
Chorus
Verse 4:
Well, getting off and back on the freeway
Can take so long, it seems like all day;
It can make you kind of desperate, and that may be why
Just the other day, I saw a guy
Who’d decided he’d just answer Nature’s call
Right in the middle of the freeway, rush hour and all.
Chorus
Verse 5:
Up in the City, and in the East Bay,
They’ve got an alternative to the freeway;
Well, they call it the BART, and I’ve heard them say
That you can get to work and back in the very same day.
But, since we’re supposed to be the high‑tech center of the Bay,
I guess it really can’t be quite as good as they say.
Chorus
Verse 6:
Of course, we’ve got the County Transit,
And to them, you’ve got to hand it,
Because I think they’ve got a plan, though they won’t say it out loud,
To keep their buses from being worn out by too big a crowd;
Because when it takes two hours to go fifteen miles,
You know they won’t have too many people standing in the aisles.
Chorus
Verse 7:
Well, up ahead, I see my turn‑off,
Just as my radiator’s about to burn off;
And it’s such a great relief, I’d be as happy as can be,
Except for just one thought that occurs to me:
Because this very afternoon, when the work day’s done,
I’ll have to get right back onto that … 101.
Chorus
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