RUNAWAY

[Verse 1] He wore the tie like a hand-me-down, Swore he'd make it big in some glass-wall town. But his mind kept drifting to that red clay bend, Where the river runs slow and the line don’t end. The lights were bright, but they hurt his eyes, And no skyline ever beat a Tuscaloosa sky. He laughed on cue, played the part just fine, But he missed the quiet and his Granddad’s pine. [Chorus 1] Take him back where the stars still shine, Where the porch swings creak and the air smells pine. Where the coffee’s thick and the biscuits burn, And you learn your faith more than you earn. Just a one-way ride to the place he knows, Where they say your name at the Texaco. Let him breathe where the silence feels like home. [Verse 2] He carried the weight like a Sunday lie, Told himself it’s just a phase, it'll pass on by. But the cracks ran deep through a polished life, And he never once cried for the things he liked. He’d pray in traffic, curse at red lights, Dig for hope in sleepless nights. Tryin’ to be more than his old man’s name, But all that tryin’ just fed the flame. [Chorus 2] Take him back where the roads don’t care, Where the cotton fields stretch like a whispered prayer. Where the work is hard but the pay feels fair, And God don’t seem so far from there. Just a one-way ride to a mailbox leanin’, Where “how ya been?” really means meanin’. Let him rest where the world don’t chase his name. [Bridge] He ain't lost — just run too fast, Lookin’ for peace in a place that don’t last. It ain’t on a map and it sure ain’t fame — It’s in muddy boots and your mama’s name. [Final Chorus] Bring him home where the stillness heals, Where grace feels real and the hurt unpeels. Where the heart remembers what matters most— Not the job he left, but the Holy Ghost. Just a one-way ride to the life he missed, Where a front porch hymn still brings you bliss. That’s the freedom he was always running toward. [Outro] He didn’t run ‘cause he lost the fight — He just got tired of sleepin’ through the light. Paradise ain't paved or paid — It’s found in surrender, down in Sweet Home clay. He didn’t run from life or from the pain — He ran to grace… and walked out changed.