Bruce Springsteen — The Line

[Verse 1] I got my discharge from Fort Irwin Took a place on the San Diego County line Felt funny being a civilian again It'd been some time [Verse 2] My wife had died a year ago I was still trying to find my way back whole I went to work for the INS on the line With the California Border Patrol [Verse 3] Bobby Ramirez was a ten-year veteran And we became friends His family was from Guanajuato So the job, it was different for him [Verse 4] He said, "They risk death in the deserts and the mountains Pay all they got to the smugglers' rings We send them home, and they come right back again Carl, hunger is a powerful thing." [Verse 5] Well, I was good at doing what I was told Kept my uniform pressed and clean At night, I chased their shadows Through the arroyos and ravines [Verse 6] Drug runners, farmers with their families Young women with little children by their sides Come night, we'd wait out in the canyons Try to keep 'em from crossing the line [Verse 7] Well, the first time that I saw her She was in the holding pen Our eyes met and she looked away Then she looked back again [Verse 8] Her hair was black as coal Her eyes reminded me of what I'd lost She had a young child crying in her arms I asked, "Señora, is there anything I can do?" [Verse 9] There's a bar in Tijuana Where me and Bobby drink with The same people we'd sent back the day before We met there, she said her name was Louisa [Verse 10] She was from Sonora and had just come north We danced, I held her in my arms, I knew what I would do She said she had some family in Madera County If she, her child and younger brother could just get through [Verse 11] At night, they come across the levee In the searchlight's dusty glow We'd rush them in our Broncos Force them back down into the river below [Verse 12] She climbed into my truck She leaned toward me and we kissed As we drove, her brother's shirt slipped open And I saw the tape across his chest [Verse 13] We were just about on the highway When Bobby's Jeep come up in the dust on my right I pulled over and let my engine run And stepped out into his lights [Verse 14] I felt myself moving Felt my gun resting beneath my hand We just stood there staring at each other As off through the arroyo she ran [Verse 15] Bobby Ramirez, he never said nothing Six months later, I left the line I drifted to the central valley And took what work that I could find [Verse 16] At night I searched the local bars And the migrant towns Looking for my Louisa With the black hair falling down