I remember being in the oldest hotel in Kingston (since burned to the ground, I believe), and being very homesick...like something out of the movies, there was a bright neon hotel sign just outside the window which made sleep impossible and there was a thick rope anchored inside which was to be thrown out as an emergency fire escape...years later, in writing the song, I had always liked the over rhyming of "the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain" from My Fair Lady..and so emulated it with "no trains, no planes, it's plain small change...etc. - "ground round" is a joking reference to grinding out the hit Round Round We Go. When we would be discussing set order in Trooper, out of boredom, we would give alternate names for our songs such as "Shoe for the Toe" (Two for the Show) and Round Round became "the hamburger song or ground round. The opening lines imply not really knowing what town you are in after too many days on the road...Trooper once did 86 dates in 89 days, with the 3 days "off" being used to drive from the Maritimes to Toronto.
How can I get from here to where you are tomorrow
How can I see you there when I'm still here in Toronto
What's a poor boy, such a lonely boy, what's a poor boy to do
Sittin' in a hotel all confused, there's no telling what to do
I gotta get right back to you
You know I've been so alone
But I'm comin' home and I ain't leavin' again
I'm gonna get right back to you
That's what this poor boy should do
Ground round and round, I'm down in downtown nowhere
No planes, no trains, it's plain small change, ain't carfare
Sittin' on the highway it's pouring rain, there isn't a dry way to go
I Started in the sun but it parted on the run, I half expect it to snow
I gotta get right back to you....
How can I get from here to where you are tomorrow
How can I see you there if I'm still here in Chicago
What's a poor boy, such a lonely boy, what's a poor boy to do
Sittin' in a hotel all confused, there's no telling what to do
I gotta get right back to you......