Miles to Montana – lyrics
She was standing there waiting for the keys
When that glove box fell right open
Selling my old jeep to a wide eyed girl
A look I used to see so often
Well she needed wheels so she could fly
And I had a baby coming
But when I saw that map rough as rough can be
It reminded me of something
I was young and standing at the ledge
When I wrote it right there on the edge
How many miles to Montana
There’s an X on Massachusetts
On a spot just on the verge of breaking free
I filled up at Maggie’s Late Night Greasy Spoon
I hung his picture on the mirror
And my hopes upon the moon
How many miles to Montana
Saw the coffee stain on New York State
Where I stopped to call my momma
Well, I heard her cry but she knew just why
Her little girl was running
And on that map it’s just a dotted line
Nothing but a Casper back road
But like a ribbon it stills ties my soul
To a place that no one knows
Well I took that top down off my jeep
Geared it down, that road was steep
How many miles to Montana
I pulled off Wyoming black top
And I left that interstate so far below
I drove high up above the timberline
Watched an eagle cross the sky
I could swear that we locked eyes
How many miles to Montana
Well I took down his picture and I burned it that night
With that far away house as the earth’s only light
Just me, big sky and that ache I was trying to lose
Grabbed a floorboard warm beer and made me a toast
Let the cold wind blow through me like a hundred ghosts
Sometimes it’s hard to know which regrets to choose
Well I knew that soon I’d be headed home
But now there’s no one there I need to phone
So there I was in another world
When she asked could I have the keys
And when I looked up at that girl’s face
For a moment I saw me
I’d never been so far from where I started
As when I drove north from Kalispell
And that young girl had a longing look
And it was one I knew so well
Well she was young and standing at the ledge
So I showed her right there on the edge
How many miles to Montana
©2009 Greg Cox, Jennifer Schmitt
