Highways in My Name

[Verse 1]
Coffee in a travel mug
Kids’ shoes by the front door
Mama’s got a clipboard
Keys in hand
Heart still bruised from the storms before
Paperwork on the kitchen table
Dreams scribbled in blue pen
I’m building something with my last good nerve
So they never feel this broke again
[Chorus]
I’m puttin’ my name on these highways
Paintin’ our story on a long white line
Every mile I haul is a promise
To the ones sleepin’ warm at night
Been down
Been dragged
Been empty
But I ain’t stayin’ where I came from
I’m startin’ this company for my family
That’s my legacy
That’s my love
[Verse 2]
Phone calls in the parking lot
Bank man sayin’ “that’s a heavy load”
But he don’t know my sister’s laughter
Pulled me back from that cold
Dark road
Mama held me when I shattered
Brothers patched these busted seams
Now I wear their names like a jacket
As I chase down every freight and dream
[Chorus]
I’m puttin’ my name on these highways
Paintin’ our story on a long white line
Every mile I haul is a promise
To the ones sleepin’ warm at night
Been down
Been dragged
Been empty
But I ain’t stayin’ where I came from
I’m startin’ this company for my family
That’s my legacy
That’s my love
[Bridge]
Some girls get silver spoons
I got steel toes and scarred hands (oh yeah)
But every scar’s a little map
Showin’ me exactly where I stand
So when my babies ask me one day
“How’d you make a life from dust?”
I’ll say
“I took that hurt
Turned it into work
And I drove it straight into trust”
[Chorus]
I’m puttin’ my name on these highways
Paintin’ our story on a long white line
Every mile I haul is a promise
To the ones sleepin’ warm at night
Been down
Been dragged
Been empty
But watch me rise with every run
I’m startin’ this company for my family
That’s my legacy
That’s my love (yeah, that’s my love)

rock, Blues-rock ballad with female vocals, warm tube amp crunch and slow 6/8 groove. Verse sits in a smoldering pocket: tremolo guitar, roomy drums, and bass leaning on the low end. Chorus widens with stacked harmonies, organ swells, and a touch of slide guitar. Middle section lifts dynamics with a brief instrumental turnaround, then drops to near a cappella before the final big chorus., blues, female vocals