[Intro] [Soft clean electric guitar arpeggio, distant highway hum] [Verse 1] Six days rolling down the Pan-American line Headlights cutting through the endless night Coffee gone cold and the radio’s low Just diesel rumble and the road below Thinking of the porch light burning back home Where my wife still waits and the years have flown [Chorus] Hold on, hold on for the long haul home To the arms that pull me off this lonely road My little girl’s growing while I turn the wheel Time keeps slipping but the bills don’t feel Just one more mile, one more heavy load Back to the love that keeps me on the road [Verse 2] She’s learning to ride her bike in the yard While I’m out here chasing neon and the dark I miss the soft way she still calls me “Daddy” The weight of this world in an old truck cab Money runs thin and the hours run long But the thought of them is what keeps me strong [Chorus] Hold on, hold on for the long haul home To the arms that pull me off this lonely road My little girl’s growing while I turn the wheel Time keeps slipping but the bills don’t feel Just one more mile, one more heavy load Back to the love that keeps me on the road [Guitar Solo] [Beautiful, expressive electric guitar solo in Mark Knopfler style – clean, melodic, slightly bent notes, storytelling phrasing, builds then settles back into the groove] [Bridge] Dusty border towns and the endless white lines Counting the days till these wheels slow down I barely notice the sun sinking low ’Cause the highway’s calling and the paycheck shows But deep in the quiet the ache remains For the life I’m missing in the pouring rain [Final Chorus] Hold on, hold on for the long haul home To the arms that pull me off this lonely road My little girl’s growing while I turn the wheel Time keeps slipping but the bills don’t feel Just one more mile… one more heavy load Back to the love that keeps me on the road [Outro] [Soft fading guitar, distant truck engine, gentle final notes] Six days… and the road still calls… But home is waiting…
