The Long Way Home

Sun comes up behind the guardrail

Frost slides off the glass in sheets

Your gray coat is folded on the seat

And I talk to it on empty streets

Mile markers counting down from ninety

A diner switching on its sign

Two coffees, I still order two

And one goes cold on the drive each time

I drove this road when it was midnight

Ten and two and the high beams on

Now the hayfields steam on either side

And I'm taking you home the long way

Hands up if you made it to the morning

Hands up till the whole road can see

Sun on the hood and the windows down

We are still burning, we are still burning

I'm not leaving you out on that road

I'm bringing you the long way home

Your name's still saved in there as "Home"

I scroll past it and let it stay

Your handwriting on the grocery list

Taped up where the fridge light shows

There's a plant on the sill you started

I finally learned to keep it green

I said your name out loud this morning

And the kitchen didn't come apart

Somebody sang it to me in the dark

I shook my head and turned the key

Now the frost is running off the fence

And I'm singing it back to them

Hands up if you made it to the morning

Hands up till the whole road can see

Sun on the hood and the windows down

We are still burning, we are still burning

I'm not leaving you out on that road

I'm bringing you the long way home

I kept the chair you always sat in

I kept the mug with the chipped rim

I left the porch light burning for you

The bulb gave out, I changed it again

And the road bends east into the gold

And the signs count down to my own street

It's not the same hands on this wheel

But I'm the one who's coming home

Come on

Sing it with me

One more time

Hands up if you made it to the morning

Hands up till the whole world can see

Sun on the hood and the windows down

We are still burning, we are still burning

I'm not leaving you out on that road

I'm bringing you the long way home

We are still burning, we are still burning

Every one of us, the long way home

Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh

Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh

We are still burning

Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh

Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh

We are still burning