Track 1 of the album Second Wind Motel · 2012

Forty Winters on the Cattle Road

“Forty winters hauling cattle in the sleet is not a figure of speech for some of the men I knew. I wanted the opener to stand up straight for them.”

slow rock · heartland rock · anthem · 4:02

Lyrics

I drove a cattle hauler forty winters
Through the sleet and through the dark
Had a heater that rattled like a kettle
And a dog-eared coffee mark

Lost a marriage somewhere near Amarillo
Found a kindness at a roadside stall
Learned that every man has a long hard stretch
And nobody makes it through at all

But I made it down the cattle road
Through the freeze and through the flame
With a tired old truck and a lighter load
And a heart that kept its name
Oh, I made it down the cattle road
Every mile a hard-won prize
And the morning comes up gold and slow
In a pair of grateful eyes

Now my daughter drives the same old route
In a rig with a better seat
She calls me when the stars come out
Says, Dad, I'm doing fine, I'm neat

But I made it down the cattle road
Through the freeze and through the flame
With a tired old truck and a lighter load
And a heart that kept its name
Oh, I made it down the cattle road
Every mile a hard-won prize
And the morning comes up gold and slow
In a pair of grateful eyes

If you're out there on the long dark stretch
With the wipers beating slow
Hold on to the wheel and the radio
The sunrise always knows

But I made it down the cattle road
Through the freeze and through the flame
With a tired old truck and a lighter load
And a heart that kept its name
Oh, I made it down the cattle road
Every mile a hard-won prize
And the morning comes up gold and slow
In a pair of grateful eyes

In a pair of grateful eyes
In a pair of grateful eyes