i’m five hundred miles away from home
teardrops fell on mama’s note when i read the things she wrote
she said we miss you son we love you come on home
i didn’t even have to pack i had it all right on my back
now i’m five hundred miles away from home
away from home away from home cold and tired and all alone
yes i’m five hundred miles away from home

i know this is the same road i took the day i left home
but it sure looks different now cause i guess i look different too
cause time changes everything
i wonder what they’ll say when they see their boy looking this way
oh i wonder what they’ll say when i get home
can’t remember when i ate it’s just thumb and walk and wait
and i’m five hundred miles away from home
if my luck had been just right i’d be with them all tonight
but i’m still five hundred miles away from home
away from home…
yes i’m five hundred miles away from home

a place in the country
writers steve clark, johnny mcrae, bob morrison

for thirty some odd years he faced a grinder in the city, hustlin’ day in day out just tryin’ to survive,
he bought his wife the finer things,and sent his kids to college, that always took what little bit he tried to put aside,
but thru it all he had one thing that seemed to keep him going, a dream that someday he could leave this city life behind, i watched his hair turn thin and gray, but his dream never faded, he told me all about it at least a thousand times.
(chorus)
he always wanted, a place out in the country,
where the birds sing, in the morning, and the grass is emerald green,
a place where, he could feel the mornin’ sunshine, and sit out in the evenin’, where the air is, fresh and clean.
it took lots of overtime to keep his wife up with the jonses, and more to get his son out of his run-ins with the law,
the more it took the more he gave, never once complaining, i don’t know how he ever stood the pressure of it all.
i never thought he’d make it, but he finally left the city, and now he’s got that special little place to call his own,
today i took a ride out in the country just to see him, it wasn’t hard to find because his name was on the stone.
(repeat chorus)x 2

(abilene abilene prettiest town i’ve ever seen
women there don’t treat you mean in abilene my abilene)
i sit alone most every night watch those trains pull out of sight
don’t i wish they were carrying me back to abilene my abilene
(abilene abilene…)
[ ac.guitar ]
crowded city ain’t nothing free nothing in this old town for me
wish to the lord that i could be in abilene sweet abilene
(abilene abilene…)

well i’ll give you love that’s above and beyond the call of love
and love’s something that money can’t buy

a poor boy’s chances for pretty a girl’s glances are sometimes very few
i’ve got no money but if you’ll be my honey here’s what i’ll offer you

well i’ll give you love that’s above and beyond the call of love
and i’ll never ever make you cry
i’m gonna give you love that’s above and beyond the call of love
and love’s something that money can’t buy

well we met at a dance and i knew at a glance that i’d found my happiness
so if you wanna carry me off and marry me then i’ll answer yes

and i’ll give you love…
yeah true love’s something that money can’t buy

before you take another step there’s something you should know
about the years ahead and how they’ll be
you’ll be living in a world where roses hardly ever grow
cause all i have to offer you is me
there’ll be no mansions waiting on the hill with crystal chandeliers
and there’ll be no fancy clothes for you to wear
everything i have is standing here in front of you to see all i have to offer you is me
[ steel ]
sweetheart i’ll give you all my love in every way i can
but make sure that’s what you want while you’re still free
the only gold i have for you is in this wedding band all i have to offer you is me
there’ll be no mansions…
all i have to offer you is me