Black Dirt in the Rearview
[Intro] (Acoustic guitar fingerpicking, slow pedal steel swell) [Verse 1] Screen door slams in the late fall chill Wind cutting sharp off the cornfield hill Got an old Ford truck and a worn-out map Dust on the dash, ballcap on my lap Leaving echoes past the county line Chasing down what’s left of my own time [Pre-Chorus] There's a quiet hum in that Midwest air Saying what you’re looking for is out out there [Chorus] Got black dirt in the rearview, open sky ahead Nothing but the rumble of the path I tread Prairie wind memories fading in the glow Headlights pointing where the grain trucks go Yeah, I love this state, but I needed room to grow Leaving black dirt in the rearview, taking it slow [Verse 2] Old silo standing by a rusted gate Granddaddy told me not to push my fate Don't trade your soul for a city dime Save your best days for the harvest time I kept his pocketknife and his steady name Even when the world tried to make me change [Pre-Chorus] And the cicadas fade with the setting sun Telling me my journey has just begun [Chorus] Got black dirt in the rearview, open sky ahead Nothing but the rumble of the path I tread Prairie wind memories fading in the glow Headlights pointing where the grain trucks go Yeah, I love this state, but I needed room to grow Leaving black dirt in the rearview, taking it slow [Guitar Solo] (Twangy electric guitar and weeping pedal steel solo) [Bridge] It ain't about running from where you come from It's carrying those flatland roots wherever you run From Route sixty-six to the river bend That Illinois soil stays with me till the end [Chorus] Got black dirt in the rearview, open sky ahead Nothing but the rumble of the path I tread Prairie wind memories fading in the glow Headlights pointing where the grain trucks go Yeah, I love this state, but I needed room to grow Leaving black dirt in the rearview, taking it slow [Outro] Taking it slow... Yeah, down that old two-lane road... Just Illinois dirt in the rearview. (Pedal steel slowly fades out into a soft acoustic strum) [End]
