Gentle On My Mind

It's knowin' that your door is always open

And your path is free to walk

That makes me tend to leave my sleepin' bag

Rolled up and stashed behind your couch

And it's knowin' I'm not shackled

By forgotten words and bonds

And the ink stains that are dried upon some line

That keeps you on the backroads

By the rivers of my mem'ry

That keeps you ever gentle on my mind

It's not clingin' to the rocks and ivy

Planted on their columns now that binds me

Or somethin' that somebody said

Because they thought we fit together walkin'

It's just knowin' that the world will not be cursin' or forgivin'

When I walk along some railroad track and find

That you're movin' on the backroads

By the rivers of my mem'ry

And for hours you're just gentle on my mind

Though the wheat fields and the clotheslines

And the junkyards and the highways come between us

And some other woman cryin' to her mother

'Cause she turned and I was gone

I still might run in silence, tears of joy might stain my face

And the summer sun might burn me 'til I'm blind

But not to where I cannot see

You walkin' on the backroads

By the rivers flowin' gentle on my mind

With shutters creekin' autumn winds

That make me draw inside myself in silence

Cross-legged now, I sit and watch

The endless, chasin' leaves across my yard

And layin' down my hairbrush

I lean back within my window seat and find

That you're movin' on the backroads

By the rivers of my mem'ry

Ever smilin', ever gentle on my mind

Through cupped hands 'round the tin can

I pretend to hold you to my breast and find

That you're wavin' from the backroads

By the rivers of my mem'ry

Ever smilin', ever gentle on my mind