Track 3 of the album Back Door Open · 2022
He Never Said He Was Proud
“He never said it, not once, and I've spent half my life listening for it. I wrote the song so I'd stop waiting.”
slow rock · father song · slow rock · 3:35
Lyrics
He never said he was proud of me Not once in all those years But he kept my picture in his visor Behind the registration and the gears I found it when we sold the old Peterbilt Faded, folded, soft at the seams A kid in a cap on a loading dock Grinning like a boy with dreams Some men say it with their words Some men say it with their hands He never said he was proud But he said it every mile In the oil he changed on my car In the way he'd stand and smile Quiet as a highway after midnight Steady as a long white line He never said he was proud But I heard it every time He'd leave a thermos on my dashboard Fill my tank when I wasn't looking Never a speech and never a hug Just a hand on the hood, and that was the booking Some men say it with their words Some men say it with their hands He never said he was proud But he said it every mile In the oil he changed on my car In the way he'd stand and smile Quiet as a highway after midnight Steady as a long white line He never said he was proud But I heard it every time Now I'm driving his road at night With his picture in my visor too I'll tell my own kid out loud What he never got to do He never said he was proud But he said it every mile In the oil he changed on my car In the way he'd stand and smile Quiet as a highway after midnight Steady as a long white line He never said he was proud But I heard it every time I heard it every time