Raise One for the Road

Keys stay home till morning light
Coffee at six, van rolls at seven
Raise one for the road

Clocked out late with a shirt full of dust
Boss man's voice still riding with us
Van by the curb with a primer-gray door
Shirts and milk crates, drum cases packed tight
Jenny took the keys and hung them by the nail
Nobody drives till the coffee pot fills

Mama had a corner booth
The whole room came to hear the truth
We came in tired, we leave here brave
Let the fiddle count the miles we saved

Raise one for the road, one for the rain
Raise one
One for the hands that raised us again
Keys stay hung till the morning light
Raise one for the road

Leave at first light
First light
Let it roll
Let it roll
Home in our hearts and fire in the soul

First stop, a fairground north of Tulsa
Two hundred seats if the weather holds
We printed shirts in cousin's kitchen
Misspelled our name on half the folds
Mama left and bought the wrong one
First runs off to show their seams
Everybody signed the sun visor
Like a town could ride our dreams

We came in tired, we leave here brave
Let the fiddle count the miles we save

Raise one for the road, one for the rain
Raise one
One for the hands that raised us again
Up again
Keys stay hung till the morning light
Raise one for the road
Leave at first light
First light

Mama brought dad's folded road map
Blue ink fading through the years
Every town he meant to play
Held a circle and a coffee stand
She tucked it in my guitar case
He chose us, don't call it fear
He'd be first to load your van
Take his songs from here

Raise one for the road, one for the rain
Raise one
One for the hands that raised us again
Keys stay hung till the morning light
Raise one for the road

Leave at first light
Coffee at six
Van rolls at seven
Daddy's map on the dashboard
Raise one for the road