[Verse 1] I left with a duffel bag and a borrowed coat Rain on the window, a half-lit road Mama waved from the porch screen door Till the curve took her out of sight I kept your note in my jacket fold Edges worn soft and the ink gone old Counted the towns by the grain of the lane And the names I forgot in the night [Pre-Chorus] But every mile pulled thin Till your hills came back again That same red barn That same bend in the creek [Chorus] I’m going home I’m going home Back to the yard where the apple tree leans I’m going home I’m going home Where my name still sounds like a dream (going home) (going home) [Verse 2] Saw the diner with the cracked red sign Saw old Joe in a Ford outside He raised two fingers like time stood still Like I’d only been gone a week The church bell rang from across the hill Past the feed store and the shuttered mill And I swear even the dust on Main Knew the shape of my feet [Pre-Chorus] But every mile fell back To the porch light in the dark That same screen door That same dog in the yard [Chorus] I’m going home I’m going home Back to the yard where the apple tree leans I’m going home I’m going home Where my name still sounds like a dream (going home) (going home) [Bridge] I was young when I left that gate Said I’d make it some other way But the road kept taking more than I gave Till I learned what the leaving costs Now the fields wear a deeper green And the creek runs where it always ran I lost some years to a far-off plan But not the map in my heart [Final Chorus] I’m going home I’m going home Back to the yard where the apple tree leans I’m going home I’m going home Where my name still sounds like a dream I’m going home I’m going home Let the porch light carry me in I’m going home I’m going home And I’ll know this road again (going home) (going home)