The Back Gate

Lyrics

Verse 1

Every mornin' just past daylight
Before the coffee's even gone
I swing that old back gate open
Same as Daddy always done

The hinges sing that familiar song
They've sung for years on end
Like they're sayin', "Welcome back, son...
Let's do it all again."

Chorus

That old back gate
Greets me every dawn
One side holds tomorrow
One side's where I come from

Every sunrise starts right there
Where the gravel meets the grass
Every time I walk on through
I'm walkin' through my past

Verse 2

Great-Great-Granddad dug that first hole
Set that cedar post by hand
Long before these fields were fenced
He built this family land

Granddad fixed it through the hard years
Daddy kept it standing straight
Now my hands know every board
On that old familiar gate

Chorus

That old back gate
Greets me every dawn
One side holds tomorrow
One side's where I come from

Every sunrise starts right there
Where the gravel meets the grass
Every time I walk on through
I'm walkin' through my past

Bridge

Someday these boots'll wear out
And somebody else'll lift that latch
Maybe one of my boys will smile
When he hears those hinges sing like that

He won't just be opening a gate
He'll be opening another day
Just like every generation
That came before his name

Final Chorus

That old back gate
Has seen a million dawns
Watched little boys become old men
Then watched their children come along

It ain't cedar posts and wire
Or weathered wood to me
It's every hand that's opened it
For generations before me

Every morning it reminds me
As I step into the day
The future's waiting out beyond it
But home's never far away

Yeah...

Every new beginning...

Starts...

At the back gate.