David's music.

MUSIC SINGLES

Explore David Armstrong's Full Music Catalog | Buy Davids' Music

Country music

ALBUM: DOWN BY THE RIVER

Down by the River

Lyrics

Down by the river where the rhythm was born,
Brass in the air like a Sunday morn.
Crowds roll in like a second line,
Feel that heartbeat, steady in time.
From the corner stage to the main parade,
Every note a promise the city made.
You can hear the past in every sound,
New Orleans lifting the whole world now.

From the Delta blues to a gospel cry,
You can feel those spirits never die.

Welcome to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival,
Where the soul of music never rests.
Jazz, blues, gospel in the sun,
R&B grooves and the rhythms run.
Rock and country, funk so sweet,
Every heartbeat in the street.
Old legends and the new stars crest,
At the New Orleans Jazz Fest.

The flavors mix, it’s a culinary delight,
Crawfish étouffée served up just right,
Alligator sausage with a smile so wide,
Beignets floating on a sweet café ride.
Po’boys stacked high with that crispy gold,
Jambalaya simmering, a story told.
Music and meals with love intertwined,
In the heart of the city, treasures you’ll find.

From the Delta blues to a gospel cry,
You can feel those spirits never die.

Echoes of laughter, the dance of the night,
Every color bursting with pure delight.
The energy rises like the Crescent moon,
People celebrating to that joyful tune.

So come together, feel the magic soar,
In that city where we always want more.
Down by the river, let your spirits roam,
New Orleans, oh New Orleans, a place called home

Move to the Music

Lyrics

She leaves her workday folded on a bathroom window ledge,
Draws a little courage where her lipstick meets the edge.
Her friends have claimed a table with a clear view of the door;
They swear they came for dancing, but they’re keeping score.
He rehearses something clever while he’s waiting for his change,
Then forgets it when she catches him and doesn’t look away.
She smiles into her glass; he takes a breath and makes his move—
All the distance in the world comes down to crossing one small room.

He leans close: “Can I buy you something?”
She says, “This one’s barely gone.
But if you’re looking for an opening—
They just put my favorite on.”

Move to the music,
Let the rhythm make some room.
You bring your little bit of lonely,
I’ll bring mine out here with you.
We don’t have to call it magic,
We don’t have to call it fate.
Put your hand where I can reach it,
Let me meet you halfway.
We can find the words tomorrow
If tonight gives us a reason to—
Move to the music,
And I’ll move a little closer to you.

Her friends exchange a look that says, We’re right here if you need.
She gives the smallest nod, then lets him take the lead.
He leaves a little daylight; she’s the one who closes in,
And the first time he gets nervous, she just spins him back again.
There’s a graveyard of good pickup lines beneath that flashing floor,
So he asks her what she does, then asks what she does it for.
She says, “I used to paint.” He says, “What made you put it down?”
For a moment she forgets there’s anybody else around.

Then the bass comes through like thunder,
And she laughs against his ear:
“If you want the longer story,
There’s a diner close to here.”

Move to the music,
Let the rhythm make some room.
You bring your little bit of lonely,
I’ll bring mine out here with you.
We don’t have to call it magic,
We don’t have to call it fate.
Put your hand where I can reach it,
Let me meet you halfway.
We can find the words tomorrow
If tonight gives us a reason to—
Move to the music,
And I’ll move a little closer to you.

When the house lights find the faces
That the colored lights concealed,
He’s got tired eyes; her feet hurt—
There’s a ladder in her heel.
She trades her number for his jacket
While her friends wait by the door.
He says, “You still up for coffee?”
She says, “That’s what jackets are for.”

Move to the music,
Even when the music’s through.
When the only beat’s our footsteps
On a quiet avenue.
We don’t have to call it magic,
Let the morning have its say.
Put your hand where I can reach it,
Let me meet you halfway.
There’s a booth beside the window,
There’s a sky turning blue—
Move to the music,
And I’ll move a little closer to you.

Two coffees and a question:
“What did you used to paint?”
She draws him on a napkin
While the city wakes.

You're My Honky Tonk Angel

Lyrics

I was feeding quarters to a jukebox with a grudge,
Making my closing argument to a whiskey-drinking judge.
You walked in wearing turquoise and a Friday-night grin,
Said, “That stool ain’t got a saddle—why you riding it again?”
I said, “I’ve got two left feet.” You said, “Well, I’ve got two rights.”
Then you took me out there dancing underneath those Christmas lights.
By the time we missed the last step, I forgot what I’d been through,
Funny how a room can spin and still come into view.

When the mill shut down that winter, I brought home my final check;
You found me at the table with that worry in my neck.
I said, “There goes our summer and that little place with land.”
You turned the check face downward, put your fingers in my hand.
Said, “We’ll keep the coffee brewing. We’ll let the landlord wait.
But you’re getting out of bed tomorrow—breakfast starts at eight.”
Then you pulled me from the table, let the radio play low;
We danced around the bad news till it had somewhere to go.

You’re my honky tonk angel,
With a halo made of neon blue.
You don’t float above the trouble,
You lace up and walk me through.
You put a little Sunday
In my Saturday-night shoes.
You’re my honky tonk angel,
And I love the way you move.

Now there’s flour on your blue jeans, there’s a screen door I should fix,
And a wedding picture leaning where the clock says half past six.
We still go down there Fridays, get our usual corner booth;
You steal the cherry from my drink, I steal a dance from you.
Last night that young bartender asked how long we’d been a pair.
You said, “He’s still on probation,” running fingers through my hair.
Then you whispered, “Take me home, boy,” with that same old sideways smile,
“I’ve been saving you a slow one. Let the dishes wait awhile.”

I used to count a good night
By how late I stayed.
Now I count the kitchen tiles
We cross when our song plays.
There’s a whole wide world of dance floors,
But wherever we wind up,
You reach for me on beat one,
And I quit keeping up.

They can turn the chairs up,
They can sweep us toward the door,
You’re my honky tonk angel…
Come on, honey, one dance more.

Garbage Dump Date

Lyrics

You pulled up Saturday at eight,
With two coffees and a trailer,
Said, “Wear your oldest pair of jeans—
Today we’re getting lighter.”
I thought you meant a mountain hike,
A sunrise by the lake.
You said, “I’ve got a reservation
At the county garbage gate.”

There was a chair with three good legs
We’d kept for seven years,
A toaster that made toast just fine
If you could stand the sparks and fear.
You held up one old garden hose
And asked, “Does this still spray?”
It gave us both a shower,
So we brought it anyway.

We weighed in with a truckload,
A thousand pounds or so.
You said, “Think how good it’s gonna feel
When all of this can go.”

It’s a garbage dump date, throw your troubles in the back,
Wave goodbye to the broken stuff we’re never getting back.
If it’s fixed beyond fixing, if it’s had its final day,
Let it ride beside us one last time and then let it go away.
We’ll roll down the windows on the empty drive home,
With room for the things we love and space to let them grow.
Call it romance, call it fate—
I fell for you on a garbage dump date.

You tossed a rusty barbecue
That hadn’t cooked since June.
I found a box of tangled cords
For things that left too soon.

One cable made you stop and say,
“Wait, what’s this one connect?”
I said, “If we find out, I’ll buy back
Every VCR we’ve kept.”

Then underneath a stack of rugs
I found my moving box,
Still full of little souvenirs
From somebody I’d lost.
You didn’t try to hurry me
Or tell me what to do.
You just held the carton steady
While I picked out what was true.

I kept the little photograph.
The rest had served its day.
You closed the tailgate gently
And we drove the weight away.

It’s a garbage dump date, throw your troubles in the back,
Wave goodbye to the broken stuff we’re never getting back.
If it’s fixed beyond fixing, if it’s had its final day,
Let it ride beside us one last time and then let it go away.
We’ll roll down the windows on the empty drive home,
With room for the things we love and space to let them grow.
Call it romance, call it fate—
I fell for you on a garbage dump date.

The scale said we were lighter
By a number painted red.
But it couldn’t count the stories
I’d been hauling in my head.
We saved the things still useful;
We gave away what could be used.
And all that couldn’t carry on
Was finally excused.

You said, “For our next big evening,
There’s a closet we could clear.”
I said, “Slow down, Romeo—
At least buy me dinner here.”

It’s a garbage dump date, with our troubles in the back,
We left the broken toaster and its almost fatal snacks.
Some things get a second life, and some have had their day;
It feels so good to thank them, then get out of their way.
We rolled down the windows on the empty drive home,
Bought a pair of flowers for the space beside the door.
Call it romance, call it fate—
I fell for you on a garbage dump date.

You took my hand at the stoplight,
Said, “Same time next Saturday?”
I said, “Only if you promise
We can throw that hose away.”

Staying For The Night

Lyrics

You picked me up at seven, I said, “Don’t make it late,”
I had Monday on my mind when I agreed to this date.
Thought we’d have a little dinner, maybe talk an hour or two,
But somewhere between the first laugh
And the way you said my name, I knew.

You weren’t checking your phone, you were looking in my eyes,
And every little answer took me pleasantly by surprise.
Then the waiter brought the check, but neither one of us moved,
Funny how a Friday night
Can change your whole point of view.

So are you staying for the night?
Not saying forever—
But forever never started
With a feeling quite this right.
Leave your jacket on the chair,
Leave your worries anywhere,
We can talk until the morning
Turns the darkness into light.

I was planning on goodbye,
Now goodbye don’t feel right.
Baby, something tells me
This is more than just tonight.
So don’t ask me twice—
Yeah, I’m asking you once:
Are you staying, staying, staying for the night?

We drove around with nowhere left we really had to go,
Passed my street about three times—I don’t think you even know.
You told me about your mother, I told you about my dreams,
And suddenly the small talk
Wasn’t small as it had seemed.

You reached across the console, barely brushed against my hand,
And somehow in that little touch I started making plans.

Not wedding bells or baby names—I’m not that far ahead,
But I might’ve pictured Sunday coffee
And you stealing half my bed.

So are you staying for the night?
Not saying forever—
But forever never started
With a feeling quite this right.
Leave your jacket on the chair,
Leave your worries anywhere,
We can talk until the morning
Turns the darkness into light.

I was planning on goodbye,
Now goodbye don’t feel right.
Baby, something tells me
This is more than just tonight.
So don’t ask me twice—
Yeah, I’m asking you once:
Are you staying, staying, staying for the night?

Maybe love doesn’t always knock,
Maybe sometimes it walks right in.
Orders dinner, steals your French fries,
Makes you want to start again.
Maybe hearts don’t need permission,
Maybe timing’s just a lie.
I woke up single this morning—
Now I’m hoping you don’t say goodnight.

Stay for the conversation,
Stay for one more song.
Stay because this feels too good
To send you driving home.
Stay until the sunrise
Makes fools of both of us—
If this is how forever starts,
I think I’ve seen enough.

So are you staying for the night?
I might be saying forever,
’Cause forever’s looking better
Every time you hold me tight.
Leave your jacket on the chair,
Baby, you belong right there,
We can laugh until the morning
Paints the whole room golden light.
I was planning on goodbye,
Now I’m planning Saturday night.
And Sunday morning coffee
If everything keeps going right.
You don’t have to ask me twice—
I already changed my mind:
You’re staying, staying, staying for the night.

Staying for the night…
Maybe staying for a while.
Funny how a first date
Can turn into your whole life.

Yeah, staying, staying, staying for the night…
And maybe every night after tonight.

I Think About You

Lyrics

I think about you when the coffee goes cold,
When the morning gets quiet and the daylight turns gold.
When somebody laughs with that look in their eyes,
For half of a second, I see your smile.

I don’t have to try,
You just arrive,
Like you’ve been living somewhere
Behind everything I see.

I think about you
More than I think about breathing,
More than the moon thinks of pulling the sea.
I think about you
In every space in between things,
In every “what if,” every “you and me.”
When the world gets loud,
When the lights go out,
When I’m lost in a room full of people somehow—
I think about you.
I think about you.

I think about you when the rain hits the glass,
How you made forever feel too short to last.
When I turn to say something and nobody’s there,
I still leave a little room for you in the air.

You’re in the shirt that I never throw away,
In the words I almost call you up to say.
You’re in every future I ever drew—
Somehow every line still leads to you.
I don’t need a photograph
To bring you back.
My heart has its own way
Of remembering everything.

I think about you
More than I think about breathing,
More than the moon thinks of pulling the sea.
I think about you
In every space in between things,
In every “what if,” every “you and me.”
When the world gets loud,
When the lights go out,
When I’m lost in a room full of people somehow—
I think about you.
I think about you.

Maybe love is not the holding,
Maybe love is what remains—
After all the doors have closed,
After time has changed the names.
Maybe love is one heart learning
How to beat for someone else,
Till thinking of you feels less like memory
And more like being myself.
I think about you
Before I even know I’m thinking,
Like my heart knows your name before my mind.

I think about you,
Like the stars think about shining,
Like forever never learned to tell time.
If I’m ninety years old
With your hand in my own,
And you ask what was on my mind all along—
I’ll say, “You.”
It was always you.
I thought about you
In the beginning,
I’ll think about you
At the end.
And if there’s somewhere after forever—
I’ll think about you again.
In every lifetime,

In everything I do…
I think about you.

She’s No Ordinary Angel

Lyrics

She came straight from the angelic realm,
No borrowed wings, no wishing well.
Took her first breath in a world that cries,
With the light of forever behind her eyes.
Now she lives in Elko, where the freight trains roll,
Where the desert keeps secrets and the winters take hold.
You’d look for her somewhere the church bells ring,
She’s buying black coffee by a slot machine.

Give her a garden, the hard ground yields;
Give her a melody, watch what it heals.
She can balance the books, make a broken clock chime,
Turn whatever she touches toward its own design.
But her finest work never hangs on a wall:
It’s the man who quit drinking enough to call,
And the woman who finally sleeps through the night
With the hallway dark and her heart all right.

She’s no ordinary angel,
She knows where the wounded hide.
She can hear “I’m barely breathing”
In somebody’s “I’m all right.”
She won’t hurry you through heartache,
Won’t ask your tears to end.
She sits beside the pieces
Till you reach for them again.
In a town you’d never look in,
Doing things you can’t explain,
She’s no ordinary angel,
And she answers to her name.

There’s a girl with her sleeves pulled over her hands
Who rehearsed being happy till nobody asked.
She came to that kitchen with nothing to say;
The angel poured tea and let nothing be okay.
Till a whisper broke loose: “Was it something I did?”
And the room held its breath for the hurt little kid.

She said, “You were a child. You deserved to be safe.”
Then stayed while those words found a place they could stay.

She’s no ordinary angel,
She knows where the wounded hide.
She can hear “I’m barely breathing”
In somebody’s “I’m all right.”
She won’t hurry you through heartache,
Won’t ask your tears to end.
She sits beside the pieces
Till you reach for them again.
In a town you’d never look in,
Doing things you can’t explain,
She’s no ordinary angel,
And she answers to her name.

I asked, “Why here, of all the places?
Why this little desert town?”
She watched a tired waitress
Set another coffee down.
Said, “Everybody pictures heaven
As a place too far to drive.
Somebody had to come here
And help them through tonight.”

She’s no ordinary angel,
But she’ll tell you she gets tired.
There are nights she leaves the porch light on
For someone fighting fire.
And the ones who found her doorstep
Find a little strength to lend;
Now they’re sitting next to someone,
Saying, “Tell me how you’ve been.”
There’s a light across Nevada
That no darkness can explain,
She’s no ordinary angel,
And this world won’t be the same.

Somewhere out in Elko,
Someone’s learning how to breathe.

She’s washing out two coffee cups,
Rolling up her sleeves.

You're My Inspiration

Lyrics

In the quiet of the night, I used to measure every dream
By all the ways that it could fall, kept my heart behind a guarded door
Afraid to want too much at all. Then you walked in like morning light
Through a window I forgot was there, and suddenly the road ahead
Didn't feel so hard to dare.

You never told me who to be, you just believed in who I am,
And somehow every time you smile, I remember that I can.

When the world says, “Not this time,” you’re the voice inside my mind
Saying, “One more mile… One more try…”

You’re my inspiration, the reason I keep reaching higher,
The steady hand behind my dreams, the spark that turns them into fire.
When I’m standing on the edge and I’m afraid to take the chance,
You look at me like I’ve already won, and suddenly—I know I can.

You’re my inspiration, my courage when the road gets long,
You make me want to build a life that’s worthy of the love you’ve shown.
If someday they ask me how I found the strength to make it through,
I’ll tell them every dream I chased had a little piece of you.

You’ve seen me tired at midnight, with a thousand doubts upon my face,
Coffee cold beside the plans I swore would someday find their place.
You never needed promises, you never asked for guarantees,
You’d just lean in and whisper, “Keep going— I still believe.”

And there were days I almost quit, when the mountain felt too high,
But you could see the man I’d be before I saw him in my eyes.
So when the doors refuse to move, I remember what I have to prove—
Not to the world, but to the heart that taught me what a dream is worth.

And if my name is ever written high above some city street,
If strangers ever know my story, if success comes looking for me,
They may see the final picture, they may celebrate the man—
But they’ll never know the quiet nights you held tomorrow in your hands.

You loved me before the victories, before the doors swung open wide,
Before the world could see the fire you had already seen inside.

You’re my inspiration, the reason I keep climbing higher,
The beautiful beginning of every dream and every fire.
When I’m standing on the mountain looking back at where I’ve been,
I’ll know the greatest thing I conquered was believing I could win.

You’re my inspiration, more than words could ever say,
You’re the light behind my purpose, you’re the why behind my way.
And if all the stars I’m chasing somehow finally come true,
The brightest one will always be the one that led me back to you.
So if tomorrow asks me where I found the strength to start,
I’ll say, “She gave my dreams a heartbeat… and put forever in my heart.”
You’re my inspiration, my reason to believe.
And every man I’m becoming started with the way you believed in me.

No One Can Love You Like I Can

Lyrics

I know the way you hide your hurt
Behind that almost-smile,
How you say that you’re alright
When you haven’t been for miles.
I know the dreams you never say,
The scars you never show,
The parts of you the whole world sees
And the ones they’ll never know.

I don’t love the perfect picture,
I love every shade beneath.
The fire, the fear, the faith in you,
The heart behind your heartbeat.

No one can love you like I can,
Through the breaking, through the beautiful,
Through every change of plan.
When the whole world wants the best of you,
I’ll hold what’s left in my hands.
I’ll love the woman you are tonight,
And the one you’re becoming again.
You may find a thousand arms to hold you,
But no one can love you like I can.

I’ll know you when the years have drawn
Their stories on your skin,
When yesterday is farther back
Than where tomorrow’s been.
And if the mirror ever lies
And tells you beauty’s gone,
I’ll kiss every line that time has made
And prove that mirror wrong.

’Cause love is more than roses
On the days when life is kind.
It’s choosing someone over and over
When the road gets hard to find.

No one can love you like I can,
Through the breaking, through the beautiful,
Through every change of plan.
When the whole world wants the best of you,
I’ll hold what’s left in my hands.
I’ll love the woman you are tonight,
And the one you’re becoming again.
You may find a thousand arms to hold you,
But no one can love you like I can.

If you lose your way,
I won’t lead you—I’ll walk beside you.
If you lose your faith,
I’ll remember what I see inside you.
If your wings forget the sky,
I won’t ask you how or why.
I’ll sit with you there on the ground
Till you’re ready again to fly.

And if one day you have to leave me,
If forever has another plan,
I will never call this love a failure
Just because I couldn’t make you stay.
Because loving you was never owning you—
It was knowing when to understand.

No one can love you like I can,
Not because I’m the only heart
That ever could or ever has.
But I have learned your quiet language,
Every prayer beneath your hands.
I know when you need shelter,
I know when you need to stand.
I’ll love you without shrinking you,
I’ll never make your light less grand.
And if a lifetime gets one miracle,
You’ll always be the one I had.
No one can love you like I can.

When our names are only memories,
When time has taken all it can,
Somewhere love will still remember:
No one loved you like I did.
No one can love you like I can.

We Belong Together

Lyrics

You came to buy my kitchen table,
I was moving out of town.
You asked about the crooked leg;
I knelt to show you how.
You held the corner steady
While I tightened up a screw—
I’d spent a month dismantling my life;
Then I was fixing things with you.

We talked until the coffee
Left a circle on the wood.
You said, “I ought to let you pack.”
I said, “You probably should.”
You bought it for your little place;
I helped you take it home.
You set two cups upon it—
I unpacked nothing of my own.

We belong together,
But there’s room for us to grow.
Bring the dreams you haven’t finished,
Bring the things you can’t let go.
Pull your chair a little closer;
Let the evening take its time.
There’s a place for you beside me
And a life that’s yours and mine.
Let the world keep asking whether—
We belong together.

You took a job three states away;
I stayed to help my dad.
We ate our dinners on a screen
And sometimes just looked sad.
You said, “I’m scared that coming home
Means giving something up.”
I said, “Tell me what you’re building.”
Then I listened till the sun came up.

We belong together,
But there’s room for us to grow.
Bring the dreams you haven’t finished,
Bring the things you can’t let go.
Pull your chair a little closer;
Let the evening take its time.
There’s a place for you beside me
And a life that’s yours and mine.
Let the world keep asking whether—

We belong together.
Now your blueprints share the table
With my father’s old guitar.
Some nights we talk through everything;
Some nights the dishes wait till dark.
When you ask if I regret
The road I didn’t choose,
I say, “I still got out of town—
I just took my time with you.”

We belong together,
And there’s room for us to grow.
There are dreams we haven’t finished,
There are things we’re learning slow.
Pull your chair a little closer;
There’s some coffee left to share.
All the years around this table
And I still want you right there.
I was only selling furniture—
You were only passing through.
We belong together.
I keep making room for you.

Breathe Right

Lyrics

I used to wake up running before my feet hit the floor,
Wear yesterday like armor, drag tomorrow through the door.
Spent good money chasing youth in bottles on a shelf,
But never gave a moment to the life inside myself.
Then I found my father tending roses in the sun;
I said, “How do you keep going?” He said, “Son, I’m never done.
But even these old roses need some room between the rows,
You can’t spend all your living breathing only through your woes.”

He put his shovel down and let his shoulders fall,
Said, “The quietest thing you do helps carry it all.”

Breathe right, let a little life come in,
You don’t have to race the wind.
Let your shoulders leave your ears,
Make a little room beneath the years.
Breathe right, when the road turns steep,
When the whole wide world won’t let you sleep.
You can’t turn back time, but you can meet tonight
With an open heart,
Breathe right.

Now I walk the hill at sunrise where I used to drive,
Let my footsteps find a rhythm, feel the morning come alive.
When the climb gets hard, I listen; when I need to rest, I do,
There’s no medal for pretending that the mountain’s flat for you.
At a little yoga class beside the laundromat,
I learned to ease my breathing while the evening shadows sat.
The teacher said, “Be gentle; there’s no finish line to cross.”
For once I left a room without a list of what it cost.

No fountain in a bottle, no promise on a sign,
Just a little daily kindness to this working heart of mine.

Breathe right, let a little life come in,
You don’t have to race the wind.

Let your shoulders leave your ears,
Make a little room beneath the years.
Breathe right, when the road turns steep,
When the whole wide world won’t let you sleep.
You can’t turn back time, but you can meet tonight
With an open heart,
Breathe right.

There are silver threads appearing where the summer used to shine,
And a few more little stories in the corners of my eyes.
I still dance around the kitchen; I still take the long way home,
Getting older doesn’t mean the seeds are finished being sown.
When the midnight mind starts making every worry twice its size,
I remember that small classroom, let the darkness close my eyes.
Easy in and gently out, no forcing and no race,
Give the day a place to settle, give the night a little space.

My first breath had no price tag,
My next one’s not for sale.
I’ve overlooked the little sail
That helps me through the gale.
It won’t erase the birthdays,
But here’s what I have found:
I feel more of the life I’ve got
When I slow enough to count.

Breathe right, let a little life come in,
There are roads you haven’t wandered,
There are songs you haven’t sung.
Let your shoulders leave your ears,
Make a little room beneath the years.
Breathe right, for the climb and for the calm,
For the grandchild sleeping softly in your arms.
You can’t turn back time, but you can hold this moment tight
With an open heart,
Breathe right.

Dad’s roses bloom each summer;
I tend them when I can.
Sometimes I lay the shovel down
The way he taught me then.
Easy in… gently out…
Morning turns to light.
Still some growing left to do,
Breathe right.

Love Is A Long Road

Lyrics

Met you south of Clarksdale, where the evening train crawls through,
You were humming to a jukebox like it owed a song to you.
Had a smile that made a poor man quit counting what he lacked;
I had twenty-seven dollars and a shirt torn down the back.
We drove out past the cotton, let the headlights find our way,
Swore we’d never be those people with nothing left to say.
But a promise comes out easy when the moon is shining bright—
You don’t learn how far love carries till you walk it through the night.

Love is a long road, baby, love is a long road,
Some miles you ride together, some you carry all alone.
It ain’t the kiss that greets you—it’s the hand that won’t let go,
When the money’s gone by Monday and the rain gets in your coat.
Oh, the river keeps on rolling, though it never runs straight;
I’m learning how to love you without making you wait.
Leave a light on in the window, let it shine down through my soul—
Love is a long, long road.

I put miles upon that pickup, put my pride ahead of you,
Played for tips in smoky places till the tips became my truth.
You were stretching Sunday’s supper into something we could save;
I was calling home with reasons for the promises I’d made.
Then I found your wedding photograph turned face-down by the bed,
And a note: “I miss the living man, not the dream inside his head.”
There are words that break like thunder; yours came quiet as the dawn—
I could fill a room with music, couldn’t hear what you’d said all along.

Came home north through Greenville with your letter on the seat,
Had a speech rehearsed for miles, lost it halfway up your street.
You were standing on the front porch; I said, “I’ve been a fool.”
You said, “Sorry’s just a hammer—what you build is up to you.”
Now I mend the leaning fence posts, make the coffee before light;
Some evenings you come closer, some you need your space at night.
Yesterday you took my hand when we crossed the gravel road—
Such a little thing to carry, such a mercy to be shown.

Love is a long road, baby, love is a long road,
Some miles you ride together, some you carry all alone.
It ain’t the kiss that greets you—it’s the hand that won’t let go,
When the money’s gone by Monday and the rain gets in your coat.
Oh, the river keeps on rolling, though it never runs straight;
I’m learning how to love you without making you wait.
There’s a light on in the window, and I’m coming in real slow—
Love is a long, long road.

Don’t need you to forget it…
Don’t need you to pretend…
Just let me walk beside you
When that road gets rough again.

Love is a long road, baby…
And I’m here around the bend.

The Movie Ends

Lyrics

The house lights fade to amber,
The final scene turns blue,
Two shadows on the silver screen
Still look like me and you.
The orchestra is whispering,
The credits start to roll,
And every name that disappears
Feels written on my soul.

We had our grand beginning,
A middle wild and sweet,
But somewhere in the final reel
Our hearts forgot the beat.

And the movie ends,
But the music lingers on,
Like a lonely saxophone
Still playing after dawn.
The curtain falls,
The crowded room grows dim,
I reach for you beside me,
But you're not there again.
Some stories end with kisses,
Some with broken hearts to mend,
And ours keeps playing in my mind
Long after the movie ends.

We danced beneath the marquee,
We laughed through summer rain,
You wore that old red evening dress,
I missed the midnight train.
We thought love was forever,
A picture framed in gold,
But even perfect photographs
Can fade when they grow old.

There were no villains in it,
No hero left to blame,
Just two people losing rhythm
In a slowly changing frame.
And the movie ends,
But the music lingers on,
Like a lonely saxophone
Still playing after dawn.
The curtain falls,
The crowded room grows dim,
I reach for you beside me,
But you're not there again.
Some stories end with kisses,
Some with broken hearts to mend,
And ours keeps playing in my mind
Long after the movie ends.

Maybe somewhere there's a theater
Where old lovers never leave,
Where every goodbye is rewritten
Into something we can believe.
Maybe there we find each other
Before the final scene,
And change the last few pages
Of everything we've been.

But the movie ends,
And the screen goes quiet white,
While the city keeps on moving
Through another sleepless night.
The curtain falls,
And I slowly leave my chair,
Still half expecting when I turn
That you'll be standing there.
Some stories live forever,
Though they never start again,
And I'll always hear our love song
Long after the movie ends.

The last note fades to silence,
The empty theater bends...
I whisper your name softly
As the movie ends.

The Long Way Home

Lyrics

I was twelve that summer, riding shotgun,
With a road map folded on my knees.
Dad had two weeks off from turning wrenches;
I had half the country left to see.

Mama packed us sandwiches and apples,
Granddad slipped a twenty in my hand.
Said, “Bring me back a little of that ocean.
Always meant to get there, never ran.”

Saw the arch rise up above St. Louis,
Watched the wheat lean east across the plains.
At a diner somewhere west of Denver,
Dad let me count the coins and pay.

I bought postcards everywhere we wandered,
Wrote, “You oughta see this,” on them all.
Called my granddad from a gas-station pay phone;
He said, “Tell me, son. Make it tall.”

Take the long way home,
Past the last town on the map.
Let me see what’s down that road
Before we turn on back.
There’s a whole world past our fence line,
More than I had ever known.
Dad, we’ve only got this summer—
Take the long way home.

At the canyon, I quit asking questions;
Even Dad ran out of things to say.
Then the ocean came through our rolled-down windows,
And I kicked my shoes off in the waves.

Filled an empty jelly jar with seawater,
Wrote “For Granddad” on the paper lid.
Dad said, “Boy, that’s gonna spill by morning.”
I held it all the way. It never did.

Take the long way home,
Past the last town on the map.
Let me see what’s down that road
Before we turn on back.
There’s a whole world past our fence line,
More than I had ever known.
Dad, we’ve only got this summer—
Take the long way home.

We found Granddad on the porch that Sunday.
I set that jar beside his rocking chair.
He unscrewed the lid and dipped his fingers,
Closed his eyes like he was standing there.

Then he asked about the roads we’d taken;
I spread that wrinkled map across his knees.
We hadn’t even made it out of Kansas
When Mama called us in to eat.

We took the long way home,
Though we’d pulled in hours ago.
Granddad traced that thin blue highway;
I told him everything I’d known.
I had gone to see America,
Brought him back some of his own.
With that old man asking questions,
We took the long way home.

Mama warmed our supper twice that evening.
We still had California left to go.