Lyrics

He pulled a flask
Poured a double shot of bourbon in his coffee cup
He said "c'mon, have a seat son, and I'll fill you up"
I slid him my glass, he poured a perfect double with a shaking hand
Then he asked me "did you ever own land?"

He said "I had a 40 acre farm, right out there past the edge of town
The state wanted a highway, so they took it all away and they tore it down
You write a check to pay for what you stole, it don't make it right
I hope the motherfuckers never sleep at night,
And what gives them the right?"

"To take a man's farm, and push him aside like he was never there
I been bustin' that dirt my whole life
Man, I've got it everywhere
It's down in my boots, it's underneath of my nails, and i't's a part of my soul
Now it's nothing but a big damn hole
Guess that's how progress rolls"

"But I remember when this country was wide open
I was lonely then too, but not so much it hurt
I remember, when breakfast was
Cigarettes and coffee,
And life was New Mexico dirt"

I didn't know what to say, and he just sat there staring
Out the window at the dust cloud on the plains
At the Caterpillars crawling over everything his life was
He said "seeing it's the hardest part..."
All I could see was a broken heart

He said "You ever drive a tractor son?
It's a little more than just an up and down the line
You gotta keep one eye on your guess row,
And one on the horizon line
Sounds slow, but you gotta keep up
If you're gonna keep it straight and tight
Some days it's a losing fight,
But you work while you got the light"

He said "I had a woman once,
But she wasn't any kind of farmer
On top of that, she wasn't any kind of farmer's wife
Even so to let her go, was about the hardest thing I ever had to do
'Til the eminent domain came through
That's the god's honest truth"

"But I remember when this country was wide open
I was lonely then too, but not so much it hurt
I remember, when breakfast was
Cigarettes and coffee
And life was New Mexico dirt

I said thanks for the drink
Any other words had clean escaped me
Shook his hand and turned around to walk outside
He called out "Watch your ass kid, or these bastards'll own it
The only thing we keep forever is our pride
The only thing we keep forever is our pride"

But I remember when this country was wide open
I was lonely then too, but not so much it hurt
I remember, when breakfast was
Cigarettes and coffee,
And life was New Mexico dirt
Yeah I remember when this country was wide open,
And life was New Mexico dirt