Stopping By

Driving to a baseball game on a Friday afternoon

Hotter than Hell in Atlanta, Georgia

I guess it's been 15 years since I came through here

Probably should have called to warn you

But I'm stopping by, I'm stopping by, daddy

How did your life turn out?

Do you ever think about a teenage girl in Chattanooga

You ever tell your folks the truth?

That might have been the last of you

It would have been a shame, we hardly knew you

Now I'm stopping by, I'm stopping by, daddy

I think the best of me's still standing in the doorway

Counting cars and counting days and counting years

I could say you've made me go through life the hard way

But it might have been worse if you were here

Looking through a picture book, this one I think my mama took

You couldn't have been much over 20

You're shirtless in your cut-off jeans, you hand a lollipop to me

I probably asked where you got the money

Picture on another page, I recognize my eyes have aged

I'd been alone for quite a while then

Trying to get a match to burn, waiting on a latch to turn

I still have difficulty smiling

But I'm stopping by, I'm stopping by, daddy

Think the best of me's still standing in the doorway

Whatever's left is headed south on 85

Passing families on vacation, headed your way

And they look so happy and alive

But I'm stopping by, daddy