Maps
I left home when I was twenty-four
To leave the kid I was behind (for good)
I cut my hand on some glass the night before
So the wheel was sticky with my blood
A compass, an atlas, and a truck full of odds and ends
I was too heavy to disappear (with her)
As Ryan sang “Won’t you miss your friends?”
I cried because I wasn’t sure
(C) And I was following the roads
As they spread out like veins from the heart of my home
Outrunning all my ghosts
The blank spaces on the map are where I’ll always roam
We settled down into the middle of nowhere
Then she said that it was time for her (to go)
I’d stand in the darkness at the edge of town and stare
I’ve never felt more alone
I fell in love, when I was twenty-six
With a sad girl who loved the road (like me)
But she had a home, and a family that she missed
We both knew it wasn’t meant to be
She slept in my bed while I sat and smoked out front
And Radiohead played Karma (Police)
I realized sometimes you can’t get what you want
But you might still get what you need
(C)
The summer when I turned twenty-nine
I crossed the country on highway (two)
It was me and Neal, and a new best friend of mine
And that same old atlas to see us through
It took eight days, through forests, dunes, and plains
We drove all day and slept out in (the air)
And in the end, the wisdom of all that space
Descended on us like an asphalt prayer
Now me and my best friend, we live out in the woods
But I still hear the road singing (its song)
And every time I do, I put down all my shoulds
And hope that she’ll still come along
(C)