Please don’t feed me black eyed peas
I still remember that smell, cocoa butter and tea leaves
And Michael Jackson jackets with the zippers up the sleeve
Watching daytime dramas whenever momma would leave

I was hanging from a tire swing in The Giving Tree
In the Dixieland summer, it was 1983
And everything was beautiful and nothing hurt but our knees
Digging in the dirt while she worked and made us grilled cheese

And if we’d read the instructions she’d make us blueberry muffins
And mama paid her every day because she had next to nothing
We gave her snuff on holidays, took her home around the way
Burning tires in the yard to keep the spirits away

And I know sounds like a Confederate cliché
Three little white boys raised by a black maid
It’s a part of my childhood, something I would never trade
These moments slip away
But memories never fade

I remember that church on the day you died
It was a celebration and nobody cried

Bestella
These hearts were born to roam
It’s a long way home
Alright
But I swear tonight I’m gonna see those lights

Bestella
These hearts were born to roam
It’s a long way home
Alright
But I swear tonight I’m gonna make it right

That boy became a man, that man became a song
It was a tale of love and loss and dark and light and right and wrong
Through the mountains and the valleys, city sidewalks and the alleys
He would ricochet, but someday he would find himself nostalgic

For the little things, tire swings, hello maybe everything
Jello pudding, pop rocks, tin cans on a string
Running through the forest to the chorus of birds
Singing songs to the heavens, yeah, without a single word

But I’m gonna find a way, I’ll find a way
To get back to him someday
I’m gonna find a way, I’ll find a way
Everything’s gonna be OK

We go round and round and round and round and round and round
Like a record ‘til we all fall down
But I still see her face when I look up at the sky
Yeah I still hear Bessie saying “don’t you cry”

Shhh…honey child, don’t you cry…

Bestella
These hearts were born to roam
It’s a long way home
Alright
But I swear tonight I’m gonna see those lights

Bestella
These hearts were born to roam
It’s a long way home
Alright
But I swear tonight I’m gonna make it right

Bestella
These hearts were born to roam
It’s a long way home
Alright
But I swear tonight I’m gonna make it right

Bestella
These hearts were born to roam
It’s a long way home
Alright, alright, alright, here we go
(Long way home)

Brothers and sisters, I wanna rock right now (long way home)
Brothers and sisters, I wanna rock right now (long way home)
Brothers and sisters, I wanna rock right now (it’s a long way home)Brothers and sisters, I wanna rock right now (long way home)