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