[Intro] [Fingerpicked guitar ] ... [Verse 1 I left a piece of my soul in the rearview And it's still keeping up at eighty miles an hour I don't know when I stopped looking back at it Somewhere between the first year And right now It wasn't the choice itself The choice was made And most days I believe It was the only road available With the equipment I had At the time It's the version of me That existed before it The one who didn't know yet What knowing would cost him He's back there Just keeping up Like he has somewhere to be That happens to be Wherever I'm going [Pre-Chorus] I think I forgot to grieve him properly I got back in the car And drove And every mile I figured The distance would make it easier And every mile It didn't And then I just Called that driving [Chorus] Eighty miles an hour And he's still there In the mirror I stopped checking In the glass I learned to drive without He doesn't ask for anything He doesn't wave He just keeps up Like the road belongs to him too Like he knows I'm not going anywhere He hasn't already been Eighty miles an hour And he's still keeping up [Verse 2] There are songs I can't hear anymore Not because they hurt Because they don't And the not hurting is its own Kind of information About how far I've driven From the version of me Who felt that song Like it was written for him I passed a diner today That looked like one we used to stop at And I noted it the way you note A landmark Not a memory And that notation That clinical noting Of the thing that used to be A feeling Is what I mean When I say I've stopped checking the mirror Not because he's gone Just because Keeping up has become His permanent condition And my permanent condition Is pretending I don't notice [Pre-Chorus] I think I forgot to grieve him properly I got back in the car And drove And every mile I figured The distance would make it easier And every mile It didn't And then I just Called that driving [Chorus] Eighty miles an hour And he's still there In the mirror I stopped checking In the glass I learned to drive without He doesn't ask for anything He doesn't wave He just keeps up Like the road belongs to him too Like he knows I'm not going anywhere He hasn't already been Eighty miles an hour And he's still keeping up [Bridge] I wonder sometimes What would happen If I slowed down Not stopped Just eighty to sixty Sixty to forty Let the gap close Between the me that's driving And the me that's following I wonder if he'd catch up And get in the car Or if getting in the car Was the choice That split us In the first place I don't slow down I just wonder And keep the needle Right where it is [Final Chorus] Eighty miles an hour And he's still there In the mirror I forgot was there In the glass I cleaned Without looking He doesn't ask for anything He never did He just keeps up Like the road is long enough For both of us Like he knows One day I'll slow down Eighty miles an hour And he's still Keeping up [Outro] ...eighty...
