[Verse 1]
Sunrise on the highway
Coffee in a paper cup
Lucy in the backseat
Tongue out
Tail up
You got your feet on the dashboard
Dust on your faded jeans
Hair in my old ball cap
Laughing like you’re seventeen
[Chorus]
You’re my desert queen
Nadine
Burning bright in the red and the gold
With your three wild hearts in the rearview mirror
And my hand that you still hold
From the driveway fights to the long straight lines
You’re the best thing this road has seen
Yeah
The outback’s wide
But it’s small beside
My beautiful desert queen
[Verse 2]
Kids passed out by dusk now
Crumbs on the floormat
You’re tracing lines on my knuckles
Saying
“Remember when we first met like that?”
Every roadhouse
Every dirt track
Feels softer when you’re near
You turn the hardest country
Into somewhere home appears
[Chorus]
You’re my desert queen
Nadine
Burning bright in the red and the gold
With your three wild hearts in the rearview mirror
And my hand that you still hold
From the tired days to the midnight cries
You stayed stronger than you seemed
Yeah
The outback’s wide
But it’s small beside
My beautiful desert queen
[Bridge]
You love those kids like crazy (oh yeah)
You love this flawed old man
Lucy’s nose out the window
Like she understands
If I could write the skyline
I’d spell your name in heat
‘Cause every mile we’re driving
Starts and ends with you and me
[Chorus]
You’re my desert queen
Nadine
Burning bright in the red and the gold
With your three wild hearts in the rearview mirror
And my hand that you still hold
From the sandy tracks to the star-filled nights
You’re the home in every scene
Yeah
The outback’s wide
But it’s small beside
My beautiful desert queen