Beneath a maple tree I watch the dying leaves let go

And tumble down on the blacktop street

Got some wild fire in these early morning eyes

There's a shift in the wind and all the colors rush in

I let it fill my heart till I feel it split

Hit the road in just these clothes and get away

Drop the everyday make some love against the grain

This nation is stitched up with Christmas lights

Billboards dogmas and sex shop signs

Strung along these roads we drive

With haste when I need to slow down

And there's a hurt that dwells in each town I pass

Where a silent war broke the working man

Left with little more than pink paper and rain

Just trying to find the way back to shore again

But what gets me the most is that hint of love

That perseveres in the face of just giving up

And that alone my friend is beauty you can't buy

The darkest places fill with the faintest light

So I pull off slow to the truck stop glow

Kill the lights and just listen to the highway moan

Like grandfather time singing blues to the western wind

I fill up the tank and have a look around

And I love what I see because it's all right now

Go inside and give my money to a girl with soft brown eyes

Though I hardly speak a word 'cause she froze me up inside

And I curse the way I fall for everything

Walk back to the car and let my secrets sting

When the butterflies become a swarm of bees

It's a delicate pose I taught myself to hold

No chance for love without letting go of this free heart

Unbound chasing selfish dreams

I'm just a lonely soldier on the road the greater things