YouTube - Long Time Gone ~ Dixie Chicks

A song about a girl who has grown up, and found that outgrowing her childhood town has cost her a past, and lost relationships.

I was talking with my father about his feelings, now that our family has broken up, that I've grown, and Jessica is away. Andrea is off in South America, and Aaron is in treatment. I know he misses when we were all together and small, however stressful it was at the time.

So far, I've always been glad of the direction my life has gone in, and I don't yet feel that anything is less full of promise than it once was. There are a lot of things I miss, but I wouldn't trade what I have now for access to them. Yet. I worry that I won't have time to spend all the time with the people I care about while they're still here. Or before things change too much. A lot of the places I went to as a kid aren't there anymore. The things I used to do with my dad might not be possible.

I know the porch I watched (and helped as much as a child could) him build around our home in Orinda is gone. Which is too bad. I loved that thing, and would have liked to see it as an adult.

There are also a lot of people I may never be able to find again. Friends and neighbors and passing acquaintances. It's a stiff price, growing up.

Daddy sits on a’ front porch swinging
Looking out on a vacant field
Used to be filled with burley t'bacca
Now he knows it never will
My Brothers found work in Indiana
M' Sisters a nurse at the old folks home
Mama still cooking too much for supper
And me I’ve been a long time gone

[Chorus:]
Been a long time gone
No, I ain't hoed a row since I don't know when
Long time gone
And it ain't coming back again

Deliah plays that ol' church pian'a
Sitting out on her daddy’s farm
She always thought that we'd be together
Lord I never meant to do her harm
Said she could hear me singin' in the choir
Me, I heard another song
I caught wind and hit the road runnin'
And Lord, I've been a long time gone

[Chorus:]
Been a long time gone
Lord, I ain't had a prayer since I don't know when
Long time gone
And it ain't comin' back again

[Instrumental]

[Bridge]
Now me, I went to Nashville,
Tryin' to beat the big deal
Playin' down on Broadway
Gettin' there the hard way
Living from a tip jar
Sleeping in my car
Hocking my guitar
Yeah I’m gonna be a star

Now, me and Deliah singing every Sunday
Watching the children and the garden grow
We listen to the radio to hear what's cookin’
But the music ain't got no soul
Now they sound tired but they don't sound Haggard
They've got money but they don't have Cash
They got Junior but they don't have Hank
I think, I think, I think

The rest is a long time gone
No, I ain't hit the roof since I don’t know when
Long time gone
And it ain't coming back
I said a long time gone
No, I ain't honked the horn since I don’t know when
Long time gone
And it ain't coming back again