[Intro – 0:00, lone pedal steel plays the chorus melody, acoustic guitar underneath] [Verse 1 – 0:12, voice and acoustic guitar, warm and easy, like greeting an old friend] Come on in, just wipe your boots, don't mind the dust and all That's our weddin' picture, crooked, hangin' in the hall We were sweethearts since the schoolyard, she was nine and I was ten And I built this house to keep her... couldn't keep her in the end [Chorus 1 – 0:38, steel and fiddle lift gently, hold every last word] So I keep it just the way she left it Her coffee cup still on the sill There's lipstick on the rim, I can't bring myself to wash it No, I don't reckon that I will Just the way she left it... oh Every picture, every chair In case the good Lord ever sends her home I want it all still waitin' there [Verse 2 – 1:05, band pulls back to piano and steel, voice aching] Here's the kitchen where she'd dance me 'round while supper simmered slow Then one April she got tired, and her cheeks lost all their glow Doctor shut the door and told us it was too far gone to fight She just squeezed my hand and whispered, "Honey, we'll be alright" [Chorus 2 – 1:30, a little more feeling, voice trembles on "love you"] So I keep it just the way she left it Her last list on the Frigidaire Says "milk and bread, and don't forget I love you" The last words that she wrote me there Just the way she left it... oh Every picture, every chair In case the good Lord ever sends her home I want it all still waitin' there [Verse 3 – 1:57, just guitar and steel, near tears] Down the hall's the bedroom where she slipped away in May Her pink scarf's on the bedpost where she hung it that last day She said, "Promise me you'll live, don't you stop because I'm gone" And I promised... but I lied. I just can't carry on [Bridge – 2:22, voice and acoustic guitar only, almost a whisper] Her sister came last winter, said, "It's time to let her go" She started foldin' up her apron, and I heard myself say "no" 'Cause as long as it hangs by the stove, I can make myself believe She just stepped out to her garden, and she's comin' back to me [Final Chorus – 2:45, softest of all, steel and fiddle, voice nearly breaking, long held last note] So I'll keep it just the way she left it 'Til the Lord calls me home too And when they carry me out that front door Here's all I'm askin' you Leave it just the way she left it... oh Every picture, every chair 'Cause when I finally make it back to her I want to tell her it's all still there [Outro – 3:15, lone steel and voice, barely there] Well, that's the tour, friend... let me walk you to the door She's still here, I swear it... I just can't see her anymore [Steel guitar fades out]
