Wide Open

Corner café…. She scrapes a couple quarters off the table
Says thanks, yeah now maybe I’ll be able to get that
Black Mercedes I’ve been saving for
The other girls say you oughta undo a couple buttons
Start showing off a little somethin’
Says nah, you go ahead think I’d rather stay poor
See I’m just making rent
She said this ain’t where my road ends

CHORUS
This may not be my town but it’ll do for now
Till I can figure out who I am and where I’m going
She’s slinging eggs and bacon with my college education
Just hanging out and waiting for a better plan
She’s ok not knowing
She’s young and the world’s wide open

There’s a rusty old ford
Lives out behind the diner
Sittin’ there waitin' on her
To make her mind up
Itchin’ to sling a little gravel
Take her who know where
Then maybe head out west
It’s in God’s hands I guess

CHORUS

BRIDGE
She throws down that apron
Takes the money she’s been making
Her life’s out there waiting
Got a better plan and that’s where she’s going
She’s young and the world’s wide open

I can’t count the barns I’ve passed
Painted red, white and black, see Rock City
And up ahead there’s a turn
Take me right through Gatlinburg, I hear it’s pretty

Maybe some other time
I can’t slow down
Right across that state line
Right about now

CHORUS
Her hair’s still wet from her bath
She’s sitting on the front porch
With a glass of ice tea
In my sweat shirt, in her bare feet
This I gotta see
If I hurry I can catch
The colors on her skin from that sunset
And her face and that look
Waiting on me
This I gotta see…This I gotta see

I can’t wait to get to her
Man, I wish I were there already
She’s the only thing that keeps
This world from driving me crazy

I just hit that city limit
Yeah and that’s a pretty good sign
And if I pick it up a bit
I’ll be right on time

CHORUS X2

Goodbye crack of dawn
Goodbye harvester
Goodbye hello baby
After a long hard day of plowing dirt
Goodbye way of life
Goodbye pass it down
Goodbye up all night
Of praying for rain
A two year drought
Walking on faith
And toughin’ it out…

CHORUS
Hey what’s past is past
Oh and nothing in this world lasts
But hey aren’t those four lanes
Fast

Goodbye gravel road
Thanks for the ride
For watching over me
Remember the time
I rolled my truck
And you were there
When I woke up
You walked me home
Yeah you led me home…but

Hey what’s past is past
And nothing in this world lasts
But hey aren’t those four lanes
Fast

BRIDGE
Goodbye
Tomorrow’s another day
You know, time it only moves one way
Away from yesterday
Oh, but memories never fade

CHORUS

Roll into town—step off the bus
Shake off that where you came from dust
Grab your guitar—walk down the street
Sign says Nashville, Tennessee
But I have found

CHORUS
It’s a crazy town—full of neon dreams
Every body plays—everybody sings
Hollywood with a touch of twang—to be a star you gotta bang-bang-bang
Bend those strings til the Hank comes out
Make all the drunk girls scream and shout
We love it—we hate it—we’re all just trying to make it
In this crazy town

You pay your dues—and you play for free
And you pray for a honky tonk destiny
You cut your teeth in the smoky bars
And live off the tips from a pickle jar
Til you find a cool new sound
And you smile when the record man shoots you down

CHORUS

One year they repossess your Truck
And the next you make a couple million bucks

CHORUS

I don’t go to church enough
I curse out loud, I drink too much
I’m more of a sinner than a saint
Got a dusty bible on my shelf
I just pick it up when I need help
Lord knows there’s a lot I need to change
And I want to, baby you make me want to

You tie the knot when I’m at the end of my rope
You never stop believin’ in me when I don’t know
Who I am or what I’m supposed to be
I don’t give you no good reasons
But baby don’t give up on me

I’ve smoked my last cigarette
At least a hundred times I bet
I guess I’ll just keep quittin’ ‘til it sticks
For all the things I failed to do
I never failed at lovin’ you
We both know I can’t grant your every wish
But I want to, baby you make me want to

You tie the knot when I’m at the end of my rope
You never stop believin’ in me when I don’t know
Who I am or what I’m supposed to be
I don’t give you no good reasons
But baby don’t give up on me

CHORUS

Don’t give up on me…no, no

She’s a hot little number in her pick up truck
Daddy’s sweet money done jacked it up
She’s a party all-nighter from South Carolina
A bad mama jama
From down in Alabama
She’s a ragin’ Cajun
Lunatic from Brunswick
Juicy Georgia peach

With a thick southern drawl
Sexy swingin’ walk
Brother she’s all

CHORUS
Country
Shoot
From her cowboys boots
To her down home roots
She’s Country
Hey
From the song she plays
To the prayer she prays
That’s the way
She was born and raised
She ain’t afraid
To stay
Country
Brother She’s Country

Hell raisin sugar when the sun goes down
Mamma taught her how to rip up the town
A honey drippin' honey
From a holler in Kentucky
Getcha flippin' kinda trippy
Like a Mississippi hippie
She’s a Kansas princess
Crazy mother trucker
Under cover lover

Thick southern drawl
Sexy swingin' walk
Brother she’s all

CHORUS X2

On my highway the yellow lines have
disappeared from time to time
And I’ve wound up on the wrong side of the road
On my highway I’ve gone too fast
afraid that I might finish last
I hugged a curve too hard and lost control
Oh I never know which way it’s gonna go

CHORUS
But what a feeling chasing the sun
Livin’ my life like it’s shot from a gun
Laughin’ a little bit more with every mile
Oh what a freedom racing the wind
Dying to know what’s around the next bend
And smiling as I watch the years roll by
I’m learning how to take it day by day
On my highway

On my highway I missed some signs,
And left a damn good love behind
I see her in my rearview like a ghost
On my highway I’ve broken down,
And cried when no one else was around
And prayed that God would save my soul
Yeah I’ve paid a lot of hefty tolls

CHORUS
But what a feeling chasing the sun
Livin’ my life like it’s shot from a gun
Laughin’ a little bit more with every mile
Oh what a freedom racing the wind
Dying to know what’s around the next bend
And smiling as I watch the years roll by
I’m learning how to take it day by day

On my highway
Yeah
Yeah

CHORUS
What a feeling out on the run
Drinking up the rain soaking up the sun
Laughing a little bit more with every mile
Oh what a freedom like a sail in the wind
Not lookin’ back not forgettin’ where I’ve been
Smilin’ as I watch the years roll by
And I’m movin’ on from my mistakes
And I’m learnin’ how to take it day by day
On my highway
Oh oh yeah yeah

This life is full of choices
Hard to make one all the voices in my head
Those blue eyes I’m in love with
Or that highway whichever I pick there’ll be regrets
I go one way I lose everything
I go the other way… same thing

I’m torn and it’s tearing me apart
I wanna go but I don’t wanna break her heart
Like a sword with a double edge blade
It’s gonna cut deep either way
This little town that big world
Chase the dream or keep the girl

More than once I packed it all up
But I’d break down and blame it on the truck
Just couldn’t go
Just wanna be out there making my mark
And lay down every night in her arms

CHORUS

I don’t know why I can’t have it all
Need to tear down that wall
Between this little town and that big world
Go chase my dream and keep the girl

CHORUS

She had a shiny little beamer with the rag top down
Sitting in the drive but she wouldn’t get out
The dogs were all barking and a wagging around
I just laughed and said ya’ll get in
She had on a new dress and she curled her hair
She was looking too good not to go somewhere
I said whatcha wanna do baby I don’t care
We can go to the show or we can stay right here and

CHORUS
I can take you for a ride on my big green tractor
We can go slow or make it go faster
Down through the woods out to the pasture
Long as I’m with you it don’t matter
Climb up in my lap and drive if you want to
Girl, you know you got me to hold on to
We can go to town but baby if you’d rather
I’ll take you for a ride on my big green tractor

I said we can fire it up and I can show you around
Sit up on the hill and watch the sun go down
When the fire flies are dancing and the moon comes out
We can turn on the lights and head back to the house or

CHORUS
We can take another ride on my big green tractor
We can go slow or make it go faster
Down through the woods out to the pasture
Long as I’m with you it really don’t matter
Climb up in my lap and drive if you want to
Girl, you know you got me to hold on to
We can go to town but baby if you’d rather
I’ll take you for a ride on my big green tractor

BRIDGE
Mmmmm just let me dust off the seat
Mmmmm now put your pretty little arms around me

CHORUS
Climb up in my lap and drive if you want to
Girl, you know you’ve got me to hold on to
We can go to town but baby if you’d rather
I’ll take you for a ride on my big green tractor
We can go to town
Or we can go another round
On my big green tractor

Tell ’em all I’m on vacation
Say I went to visit friends
That you ain’t heard or seen from me in quite a while
When they ask you where I’ve been

Tell ’em I’m out on the west coast where it don’t ever rain
And that I’m probably doin’ fine

CHORUS
Just don’t tell ’em I’ve gone crazy
That I’m still strung out over you
Tell ’em anything you want to
Just don’t tell ’em all the truth
Yeah don’t tell ’em all the truth

Tell ’em all I’m out in Vegas
Blowin’ every dollar I ever made
Tell ’em that I must be into something bad for me ’cause
I’ve sure lost a lot a weight

Tell ’em I’m out on the road with some old rock n’ roll band
Living like a gypsy king

CHORUS

BRIDGE
The truth is that I’m asking you to lie
And we both know that it ain’t right
If you ever loved me please
Have some mercy on me

Tell ‘em anything you want to
Just don’t tell ‘em all the truth
Yeah don’t tell ‘em all the truth
I still need you
Yeah that’s the truth
I still love you
Baby that’s the truth

It seems like money
Is always on our minds these days
Make more, spend more
Worry how the bills will get paid
Oh it wasn’t that long ago
But it seems so far away
When we didn’t have a damn thing
But we were happy

CHORUS
And love was easy
Just laying on a river bank
All night counting the stars
Love was easy
As that feeling we found
In the backseat of my car
Even in the dark
Love was easy
When we didn’t make it so hard

Can you tell me
The last time we really laughed
The last time we had a moment
When we hated that the moment passed
Here we are down the road
Standing here looking back
Seeing what we used to have
Is what we’re missing when

CHORUS

BRIDGE
Maybe that’s how it is
Maybe that’s how it goes
But all I know

CHORUS

When we didn’t make it so hard
Love was easy baby
When we didn’t make it so hard