[Verse 1: Heartland-rock male lead, big open heartland-rock voice over driving live drums] Grew up in Holdrege, Nebraska, where the sky is all you see Flat as a kitchen table, half a mile above the sea Twenty-two and never seen it, only pictures on a screen Only blue I ever knew was the paint on Daddy's machine Every summer someone left for it and came back with a tan Every summer I stayed home and fixed the pivots on the land So I threw a bag in the Ford at four with a gas card and a map Heartland radio and truck-stop coffee ridin' in my lap [Verse 2: Heartland-rock male lead, building, the drums open up] Wyoming in the mornin' and the Snake River by dark Slept three hours in the cab beside a semi in the park Crossed the Blue Mountains on fumes with the needle on the pin And somewhere west of Portland I could smell the salt come in Every mile the road kept droppin', every mile the air got wet Twenty-six hours off the prairie, and I hadn't seen it yet Then the trees broke open on a hill above the bay And the whole wide world went silver, and I pulled the truck away [Hook: Heartland-rock male lead, full band, huge heartland-rock anthem hook] Bring me down to sea level, bring me down to size Twenty-six hours of prairie just to see it with my eyes Back home I was the tallest thing that stood in any field Down here at sea level every wave is tellin' me to kneel [Verse 3: Heartland-rock male lead, wave break, the band stops dead and one huge wave breaks across the bar, then the whole band lands] Parked the Ford at Cannon Beach at the edge of all the land Walked into the surf in my work boots, never planned And the first one hit me at the knees, the second at the chest And the third one sat me down, and I was laughin' with the rest Heartland boy in prairie boots, soakin' through the jeans Sittin' in the foam like the smallest thing that's ever been Kids were pointin', gulls were screamin', and I didn't even care I had waited all my life to be the smallest one there [Final Hook: Heartland-rock male lead, full band, huge heartland-rock anthem hook] Bring me down to sea level, bring me down to size Twenty-six hours of prairie just to see it with my eyes Back home I was the tallest thing that stood in any field Down here at sea level every wave is tellin' me to kneel [Outro: Heartland-rock male lead, the band rings out] Bring me down, bring me down, I'm finally standin' tall [End]
