The Key

Come on in and take your coat off
Come on in and sit down
If i seem a little nervous
I've been walkin' shaky ground

I've been alone since she left me
And i'm not quite sure what to do
So if i call her name i'm sorry
It's all those years are hard to lose

Chorus:
All those years with just one woman
Was all gone in just a day
All those years with just one woman
Makes it hard to try to find a brand new way
After all those years

I guess i should take down her picture
And try to put your mind at ease
And tell myself it's really over
And put aside this misery

I'd love to hear my daddy play once again
All the songs that he taught me when i was a kid
John henry, ol' shep and faded love
I fall to pieces and on the wings of a dove

Just a few chords on the banjo that was all he knew
But in the eyes of a child, man his fingers flew
I practiced and i practiced til i got it right
Packed up everything and just took off one night

I made it from the beer joints to the opry stage
He said the only difference is what you're gettin' paid
He didn't care that everybody knew my name
He said it's all for nothin' if you don't stay the same

But when he died the preacher cried and said he's the lucky one
He's walkin' hand in hand in hand with god's only son
My faith and common sense tell me the preacher's right
But i'd love to hear the banjo ring for me tonight

And i will honor my father with these words i write down
As long as i remember him he'll always be around
And the pain of losin' him cuts like a randall knife
I learned a few chords on the banjo as the key to life

And the pain of losin' him cuts like a randall knife
I learned a few chords on the banjo as the key to life

You're climbing mountains, i'm on a hill
You're always running i'm standing still
You live for the moment, no future no past
I may be a fool to love by the rules and want it to last

Chorus:
If you ever have forever in mind
I'll be here and easy to find
If your heart isn't ready to lay down with mine
If you ever have forever in mind

The music has ended still you want to dance
I know that feeling, i can't take that chance
You live for the moment no future no past
I may be a fool to love by the rules, i want it to last

(repeat chorus)

I was born in guilford county
Way back up in the pines
It's where i hold the sweetest memories
In the hills of caroline

My daddy wasn't much of nothin'
Spent his life doin' time
But mama learned me about jesus
In the hills of caroline

I met a girl her name was hattie
Fair and tender, sweet and kind
She showed me how to love a woman
In the hills of caroline

I always thought that we would marry
One sweet day she would be mine
But hattie's gone, to live with jesus
In the hills of caroline

If i should die before tomorrow
Just one request if you don't mind
Just bury me right next to hattie
In the hills of caroline

Bury me right next to hattie
In the hills of caroline

Don't come cryin' to me when it's over
Don't you come knockin'' at my door
Don't come cryin' to me i won't be waiting
Like i've done a hundred times before

You promised you'd love me forever
Now it's all over town you've changed your mind
You'll call me and say "let's get together"
But i'm sorry i won't take you back this time

Don't come cryin' to me when it's over
Don't you come knockin'' at my door
Don't come cryin' to me i won't be waiting
Like i've done a hundred times before

Like i've done a hundred times before

It ain't about you, it ain't about me
It's about this love we found that has to be
I never questioned that look in your eyes
And you never doubted how i felt inside

Chorus:
We found passion and grace in each other's face
And our heart's will now beat as one
For we both know a place where our souls have embraced
I think it's what they all call love

This gift you've given humbles me
True companions we'll always be
For so long we've waited to feel what we feel
We've finally tasted something that's real

(repeat chorus twice)

I think it's what they all call love