THE LONG WAY HOME

THE LONG WAY HOME

I left a coffee going cold at dawn,

Kept the engine running, said I'd not be long.

I chased the highway, followed every flame,

And lost the man who used to know my name.

The years went by in motel rooms and rain,

I traded love for neon, called it gain.

I built a name that no one could destroy,

But nothing in it ever felt like joy.

I've slept in cities where I knew no one,

Watched strangers' windows light up, one by one.

I've worn the scars of every road I've known,

And every mile has left me more alone.

I thought that time would wash my past away,

And leave no words that I would need to say.

But there's a voice that follows where I roam,

A quiet voice that keeps on calling home.

I'm taking the long way home,

Through all the years I've walked alone.

Beyond the darkness, past the pain,

I'll find the road to love again.

I'm taking the long way home,

Through every place I've called my own.

And when the last light leaves the road,

I'll keep on walking, walking home.

I remember faces by the old front door,

The little things I never noticed before.

A light you left on when the night was cold,

A hand that held me, and I let it go.

I can't bring back the years I let slip by,

Or take the shadows from your waiting eyes.

But I can stand before the truth I've known,

And face the heart I left so long ago.

Perhaps the road was never meant to end,

Perhaps the journey taught me how to mend.

For all the treasures I was trying to find

Were never waiting somewhere down the line.

And home is more than walls around a room,

More than a light left burning in the gloom.

It's where the truth can finally be shown,

Where you are loved and never stand alone.

I'm taking the long way home,

Through all the years I've walked alone.

Beyond the darkness, past the pain,

I'll find the road to love again.

I'm taking the long way home,

No more afraid to stand alone.

The heart remembers what is true,

And every road leads back to you.

I'm coming home...

I'm coming home!

To the light you kept, to the heart I've known!

I'm coming home!

No more a stranger, no more alone!

The road is long!

The road is long!

But love has kept me holding on!

I'm coming home!

At last I know where I belong!

And if tomorrow calls my name,

I'll never have to run again.

For I have learned, through all I've known,

The longest road can lead you home.

The long way home...

The long way home...