Text: John Hiatt. Beneath This Gruff Exterior. Circle Back.

ward bond

was his sidekick rowdy yates?

drove that wagon train out West

right along this interstate



cross the high plains of kansas

to the colorado line

spent a lot of sleepless nights 'Round the campfire

they had mountains on their minds



those higt plains people

they're different somehow

you spent your life leaning into a hard wind

i guess you're less likely to take a bow

all these stories buried out here

they're calling to me

like the earthquakes in california

like the hills back in tennessee



CHORUS:

i gotta circle back

touch something near

find out which way to go

to get on out of here

i lost my thread

and i've lost some time

but it takes a lot of ground

for me to change my mind



well its 99 in topeka

the wind is blowin' hot

blowin through my oldest daughter's hair

with everything else i forgot



i drove her out to college

drove back through an empty space

thinkin' back to when she was a baby

tryin' hard to see that face



CHORUS:

i gotta circle back

touch something near

find out which way to go

to get on out of here

i lost my thread

and i've lost some time

but it takes a lot of ground

for me to change my mind



two kids up and at 'Em

one more left at home

she's a spark plug, a real fire cracker

and in four years she'll be gone



they just blow through your life

like the wind on the plains

like the dust that covers everything

'Til the rivers fill wiht rain



CHORUS:

i gotta circle back

touch something near

find out which way to go

to get on out of here

i lost my thread

and i've lost some time

but it takes a lot of ground

for me to change my mind