Gentle On My Mind

It's knowin' that your door is always open And your path is free to walk That makes me tend to leave my sleepin' bag Rolled up and stashed behind your couch And it's knowin' I'm not shackled By forgotten words and bonds And the ink stains that are dried upon some line That keeps you on the backroads By the rivers of my mem'ry That keeps you ever gentle on my mind It's not clingin' to the rocks and ivy Planted on their columns now that binds me Or somethin' that somebody said Because they thought we fit together walkin' It's just knowin' that the world will not be cursin' or forgivin' When I walk along some railroad track and find That you're movin' on the backroads By the rivers of my mem'ry And for hours you're just gentle on my mind Though the wheat fields and the clotheslines And the junkyards and the highways come between us And some other woman cryin' to her mother 'Cause she turned and I was gone I still might run in silence, tears of joy might stain my face And the summer sun might burn me 'til I'm blind But not to where I cannot see You walkin' on the backroads By the rivers flowin' gentle on my mind With shutters creekin' autumn winds That make me draw inside myself in silence Cross-legged now, I sit and watch The endless, chasin' leaves across my yard And layin' down my hairbrush I lean back within my window seat and find That you're movin' on the backroads By the rivers of my mem'ry Ever smilin', ever gentle on my mind Through cupped hands 'round the tin can I pretend to hold you to my breast and find That you're wavin' from the backroads By the rivers of my mem'ry Ever smilin', ever gentle on my mind