Mccreary County Dirt Roads

[Intro – slow steel guitar, like George Strait on a porch at dusk] Yeah, I was raised on a three-chord truth…

[Verse 1]
I grew up where the cotton rows kiss the sky
Red-dirt memories and a neon goodbye
Mama played Tim McGraw on a cracked cassette
While Daddy two-stepped with a Marlboro regret
Out behind the barn with a fifth of Crown
Me and the boys howlin’ Brooks & Dunn loud
We were boot-scootin’ rebels in a one-stoplight town
Chasin’ Friday night like it owed us somehow

[Pre-Chorus – Blake Shelton swagger kicks in]
Every heartbreak had a steel guitar cry
Every backroad had a “don’t say goodbye”

[Chorus – full band, big George Strait pocket, Kenny Chesney beach-heart swell]
We were Brooks, Dunn, and dirt roads
Tim McGraw singin’ ‘bout livin’ like you were dyin’
George Strait keepin’ it pure as a west-Texas wind
Kenny Chesney remindin’ us summer don’t end
Blake Shelton laughin’ with a beer in his hand
Sayin’ boys, this is God’s country, take a stand
Yeah, we were raised on the kings of this land
Brooks, Dunn, and dirt roads… that’s who I am

[Verse 2]
First love left in a cloud of dust
Taillights fadin’ like a George Strait chorus
I drowned that pain in a jukebox glow
Kenny sang “There Goes My Life” and wouldn’t you know
I saw my future in a rearview mirror
A little blonde girl with her mama’s blue eyes appear
Now I’m the daddy dancin’ in the kitchen light
While Blake sings “God Gave Me You” on a Saturday night

[Chorus – bigger, add a fiddle run and B&D harmony stack]
We were Brooks, Dunn, and dirt roads
Tim McGraw teachin’ us humble and kind
George Strait carryin’ the torch one more time
Kenny Chesney keepin’ the island alive
Blake Shelton remindin’ us love ain’t polite
Yeah, we were raised on the kings of this land
Brooks, Dunn, and dirt roads… Lord, that’s who I am

[Bridge – slow it down, just vocal and steel, Tim McGraw-style confession]
When the world gets heavy and the nights get long
I still hear those records keep me strong
Sixty-five years of sawdust and tears
Turned a Carolina boy into a man right here

[Final Chorus – full choir of the greats, stadium-sized]
Here’s to Brooks, Dunn, and dirt roads
Tim McGraw still makin’ the whole world cry
George Strait, the King, never tellin’ a lie
Kenny Chesney barefoot under Caribbean skies
Blake Shelton grinnin’ like the devil with nothin’ to hide
We were raised on the kings of this land
Yeah, we’ll keep singin’ till the good Lord says “ride”
Brooks, Dunn, and dirt roads…
That’s the song I’ll take to the other side

[Outro – slow fade with a lone steel guitar, tip of the hat]
Play it again, George… one more time for the ones who ain’t here.
Amen.