We grew up on a gravel road, radio low
Mama yelling supper when the sun hung slow
You were two years older, twice as brave
Taught me how to throw a punch, how to be okay
Then the word came down like a winter rain
Doctor’s office quiet, couldn’t say your name
You cracked a joke just to make us laugh
Said, “Don’t look at me like that, I ain’t done yet, man”
You’re in the tailgate dust, in the midnight stars
In the cracked vinyl seat of my old truck car
You’re in every song that makes me choke
Every Sunday drive, every bad joke
Yeah, the stone says when and the stone says where
But you ain’t gone, brother
You’re just everywhere
Hospital nights and a borrowed bed
Counting ceiling tiles, things we never said
You said, “Promise me you won’t let this steal your fire
Live enough for both of us, if I get tired”
You’re in the tailgate dust, in the midnight stars
In the cracked vinyl seat of my old truck car
You’re in every prayer I don’t say out loud
In the way I still look for you in a crowd
Yeah, the stone says when and the stone says where
But you ain’t gone, brother
You’re just everywhere
Cancer took your body, but it missed your name
Missed the way you loved us, missed the flame
Missed the mark, missed the truth
Didn’t take the best part of you
You’re in the laugh I hear when the room’s too still
In the way I grip the wheel going over that hill
You’re in the scars, you’re in the scars I wear
Proof that love don’t end with a final prayer
Yeah, the stone says when and the stone says where
But you ain’t gone, brother
You’re just everywhere
So I’ll raise one up to the sky tonight
Say your name, let it feel alright
I’ll keep going like you told me to do
Until the day I finally catch up to you