Track 7 of the album Diesel Hymns · 2008
Hold the Wheel, Brother
“My brother and I split a night drive once and said more in those hours than in ten years of holidays. I kept the chorus big because that night felt big.”
rock ballad · heartland rock · power ballad · 4:02
Lyrics
Three in the morning on a two-lane road My brother's in the passenger seat He's had a hard year, carrying a load That he never would let me meet I said pull over, let me drive a while He said not yet, I just need the miles So hold the wheel, brother, I've got your back Hold the wheel, we'll find the track Ain't no shame in a heavy heart Ain't no shame in a brand-new start Hold the wheel and let the headlights show Some roads you can't take on your own Hold the wheel, brother, hold it tight We'll make it home by the morning light We stopped at a station for coffee and gum The clerk gave us a nod and a tired smile He told me about his wife and his son And the bridges he burned a while My brother laughed for the first time in weeks And the dark turned gold at the edges of speech So hold the wheel, brother, I've got your back Hold the wheel, we'll find the track Ain't no shame in a heavy heart Ain't no shame in a brand-new start Hold the wheel and let the headlights show Some roads you can't take on your own Hold the wheel, brother, hold it tight We'll make it home by the morning light Dad used to drive us this very same way Radio low and nothing to say Maybe that's all that love ever was Just somebody there, just because The sun comes up on the cattle and corn And he reaches over and turns up the song We don't say much, but we don't have to Some silence is how the good stuff gets through So hold the wheel, brother, I've got your back Hold the wheel, we'll find the track Ain't no shame in a heavy heart Ain't no shame in a brand-new start Hold the wheel and let the headlights show Some roads you can't take on your own Hold the wheel, brother, hold it tight We'll make it home by the morning light Hold the wheel, brother We'll make it home