...strolled all alone through a fallout zone

Behold, my favorite four lines in all of popular music:

Grew up in Houston off of Wayside Drive
Son of a carhop in some all-night dive
Dad drove a stock car to an early death
All I remember was a drunk man's breath

Context here is not needed, although they work very well in concert with the rest of the song.

But these can stand just fine on their own. Short stories and novels say less in hundreds and thousands of words than these lyrics; Crowell paints a picture so telling, so evocative, that you can almost smell the grease and alcohol. 

Brilliant, the whole song actually.