Rearview Dust

I left home on a Saturday, the sun was sinking low,

With all I owned in a paper bag and heartache in tow.

Mama stood by the front porch swing, tears in her eyes,

But staying there felt like living a thousand little goodbyes.

The gravel popped beneath my wheels, the radio sang soft,

I thought about the dreams I had and all that they'd cost.

Passed the water tower's rusty hue and the diner sign unlit,

Felt the ghost of twelve years old and the dreams I used to fit.

Rearview dust and an open sky,

Good Lord knows I had to try.

This small-town heart, it burned too bright,

For a life that’s only black and white.

I saw the high school football field fade in the mirror’s glass,

The echoes of a hometown crowd cheering on the past.

I swear I heard old Garth or Hank humming on the breeze,

But I had to let those memories go if I was gonna leave.

The lights of Nashville called my name, a promise and a dare,

To leave behind the love I knew for dreams that lived out there.

Now every mile feels bittersweet, a whisper and a wound,

Of a girl who knew her roots too well to not chase the moon.

Rearview dust and an open sky,

Good Lord knows I had to try.

This small-town heart, it burned too bright,

For a life that’s only black and white.