Trail of Untraveled Roads

I found the map where his letters slept Folded soft in the

cedar drawer Blue ink rivers,

coffee rings A road he never took before (oh)

Dad kept nails in a coffee can Receipts from towns with names

like songs I traced the coast with my trembling hand Found little

stars where he belonged He wrote,

someday when the roof is paid

Someday when your mother heals

Someday past the county line We'll see how far the morning feels

So I drive for the man who stayed For the hands that

built my name Every mile is a prayer I make Every road

brings him with me

I'll carry his map to the edge of the blue

Father, I'm finishing the dream for you (oh-oh)

I slept in vans by wheat-field towns Sent postcards home to an

empty chair At every diner off the state route I heard his

laugh in the silverware

I climbed the ridge he circled twice Where pine trees bent against

the snow I took a stone and marked the page Then let

the cold wind let me go

So I drive for the man who stayed For the hands that

built my name Every mile is a prayer I make Every road

brings him with me

Now the mountains rise like a promise kept And I feel his

hand on the wheel again

Father, I'm finishing the dream for you

(oh-oh, yeah)

At the last red pin,

I broke down hard

By a cliff where the sea turned gold

I said, I made it,

Dad, we made it And I wasn't there alone The paper shook

in my open hands Like it knew the way back home (ahhhh)

So I drive for the man who stayed For the hands that

built my name Every mile was a prayer I made Every road

brought him with me At the edge of the blue,

I raised the page Let the salt wind carry his name

Father, I finished the

dream for you

And somehow you brought me home I finished the dream for you

(oh-oh, oh)

I folded the map by the dashboard light Drove east while the

dawn came through

One road ends, another starts And I keep walking next to you (mm-mm)