Born to ride, not to Love

You say the horses knew me better than the rest of you

I reckon that’s the truest thing you ever said or knew

They don’t try to tame me when I’m restless or I roam

They just run beside me ‘til I find my way back home

And you tried

Lord knows, you tried to change my mind

But love ain’t made of fences, it’s a field you let grow wide

And I was never built to be some quiet cowboy’s bride

You wanted roots, I needed sky — a softer place to land

But I was born to chase the wind, not hold somebody’s hand

And I tried

Yes, I tried to make it right

Oh darlin’, I found what I was after

Through every silence, through every storm

And when I think about the life we could’ve captured

I never meant to leave your arms so torn

You mattered, more than you ever knew

But I had to go and find my wilder blue

You held me when the world went dark the day my daddy died

I broke in ways you couldn’t fix, though God knows how you tried

But sorrow’s got a language only solitude can speak

So I kissed you soft and rode out west with salt still on my cheek

And I cried

Lord, I cried the whole damn ride

Oh darlin’, I found what I was after

Not greener pastures, just something true

I know I hurt you with the weight of all my chapters

But I never meant to write a book without you

You mattered, more than I let show

But I had to learn to let that wild heart go

I called you in the Rockies, scared and small beneath the moon

Two weeks late and wonderin’ if my life had come too soon

You talked of family and a home in that same town

But I could hear the saddle callin’ — I just couldn’t settle down

And I cried

God, I cried but still I rode that line

Oh darlin’, I found what I was after

A kind of freedom I could claim alone

But when I think about the things that truly matter

You were the truest place I’d ever known

You mattered, more than I could say

But I was born to love and ride away

If you ever hear me whisper through the pine

Know I loved you — but I couldn’t stay this time