Sky so gray, you'd have thought the clouds swallowed it whole
Wind's picked up, the chill in the air now a bitter cold
Not normally out this late, but I could use the walk
Finding silence from the meaningless chatter, the useless talk
Up ahead, I spy the old telephone booth, lurking under the streetlight
Got some quarters in my pocket and the cold is starting to bite
So I drop 'em in and dial away
Hoping I can get a few minutes off what I paid
My dad picks up - honey, why are you calling so late?
I tell him I just left some trendy restaurant he'd hate
I hear his laugh on the other end, ask him about the weather
Says he'd joke about an eighty degree cool front if I wasn't so clever
I wrap my winter coat around myself just a little tighter
And he asks, well how is my stubborn little fighter?
The line cracks over the thousands of miles between our phones
I say you always told me to take the high road, but it's got a couple lows
He says, life surely ain't easy and there's times that'll be blue -
But Lord willing, you've got a way of getting this world to bend it's will to you
I say I'm not so sure, I think I misplaced my prayers
But I've been trying to find my way back to the journey upstairs
I can hear his smile, listen to him calling me an angel
I tell him my white dress has been stained, my peace in danger
And I know you said to be tough, to saddle up and get back on the horse
But I sure do get carsick from the turns of life's course
He sighs, I can't see the future, but just know it turns out all right
I didn't do all that raising for you to back away from a fight
And don't go conducting autopsies on old decisions,
That ain't no way for a person to be living
With glistening eyes, I ask if he can see the moon tonight -
It sure is nice to think that we're guided by the same light
I tell him no one else is the same, there ain't no other hearts like mine
And he just says he's known that about me since the dawn of my time
Then asks - how come your brown eyes seem so blue?
Reminds me to never forget that to thyself, one must always be true
No, I haven't forgotten, sometimes it's just harder to do
Upon which he laughs, saying I was once in my twenties too
And though I miss you, I don't want you to come back - you aren't the same
Something good in you is permanently altered, parts forever changed
The light in your eyes and the joy in your days,
Will continue to live where you choose to lay
I know I must be costing him a fortune, staying on the call this long
Something about the sound of a voice, a comfort in which you belong
I say, I know sometimes I feel lost, but you help me return
I may not know anything at all, but this I've learned
He warmly agrees, tells me this too shall pass
How life's got a funny way of always working out
Sweet dreams darling, I've got to get up in the mornings
Broken fence needs mending before the midday sun gets scorching
I hang up the phone, begin my descent uphill home
Contemplating if it's obvious I was born in outer space to everyone I know
Open my door and kick my boots off,
Dream of open pastures and water troughs