The Long Way Home

Lyrics

[Verse 1] You kept marbles in a coffee tin Underneath the porch-room stairs I had grass stains on my Sunday knees And a knot of burrs in my hair Mama called us in at supper time From the field behind the mill We came home with pockets full of stones And a head too full to still [Chorus] Take me back to the long way home Past the fence and the sycamore tree Where the whole wide world fit inside one jar And you were waiting there for me Take me back to the long way home Before we learned what leaving means When a hand-me-down bike and a June dusk sky Could carry all our dreams [Verse 2] Granddad mended fishing lines At the redwood kitchen table We listened for the screen door slam And believed in every tale Rain came hard on Saturday So we built a town from chairs A blanket roof, a cardboard sign And kingdoms in the stairs [Chorus] Take me back to the long way home Past the fence and the sycamore tree Where the whole wide world fit inside one jar And you were waiting there for me Take me back to the long way home Before we learned what leaving means When a hand-me-down bike and a June dusk sky Could carry all our dreams [Bridge] Now the house has different windows And the field is paved with stone But I hear your laugh in the kitchen fan When I’m making supper alone Some roads disappear beneath us Some names fade from the wall But the child I was still knows the turn When the evening swallows all [Final Chorus] Take me back to the long way home Past the fence and the sycamore tree Where the whole wide world fit inside one jar And you were waiting there for me Take me back to the long way home Though the years have changed the scene I can still feel that hand-me-down bike Rolling through the summer green [Outro] Rolling through the summer green With the whole wide world unseen