Somewhere West of Me

Dixon's record — the music he writes inside the story. A man leaves a hollow suburban life and drives west, and the songs trace the whole arc: the departure, the open spaces, the love that finds him when he stops looking, and the man he becomes on the road.

18 tracks

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The departure. A man stands in his suburban driveway knowing the life he built looks perfect from the outside and feels hollow from within. The lawn is cut, the bills are paid, the neighbors think he’s fine — but there’s a version of himself pacing in the back rooms of his mind. This is the moment he stops saying no to the voice that says there’s something more. The song builds from a lone acoustic guitar to a full band, mirroring the engine turning over and the decision becoming real. West isn’t just a direction. It’s a metaphor for everything he hasn’t tried yet.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
I've been standing in this driveway for the better part of a year
Looking at a life that fits on paper but doesn't fit in here
The lawn is cut, the bills are paid, the neighbors think I'm fine
But there's a version of me pacing in the back rooms of my mind
He's restless and he's tired of being told where he should stand
He's ready to stop holding everything that was never in his hands

[Pre-Chorus]
I can't explain it and I can't make it make sense
But something's pulling at the edges of this white picket fence

[Chorus]
There's somewhere west of me
That I haven't been yet
A version of my life I haven't lived yet
I don't know the road and I don't know the name
But I know if I stay here
I'll just keep feeling the same
There's somewhere west of me
And I think it's time I went

[Verse 2]
I used to think that restless was just something you outgrow
You buy the house, you plant the tree, you learn to just say no
To every voice inside your chest that says there's something more
But I've been saying no so long I don't know what the yes is for
The man I see each morning in the mirror plays his part
But somewhere underneath the routine there's a stranger in my heart

[Pre-Chorus]
He's not angry and he's not afraid
He's just done pretending that the comfortable is the same as being saved

[Chorus]
There's somewhere west of me
That I haven't been yet
A version of my life I haven't lived yet
I don't know the road and I don't know the name
But I know if I stay here
I'll just keep feeling the same
There's somewhere west of me
And I think it's time I went

[Bridge]
I'm not running from this life
I'm just listening to the one that's calling
And I don't know if I'm brave or if I'm foolish
Or if there's any difference when you're falling
But I'd rather be the man who tried the road
Than the one who stood there staring at the door
I've been somebody else's version long enough
I want to find out what I'm for

[Chorus — Final]
There's somewhere west of me
That I haven't found yet
A life that's waiting past the county line I bet
I don't know the cost and I don't know the toll
But I know if I don't go
I'll never know my soul
There's somewhere west of me
Yeah, I think it's time I went

[Outro]

A father’s letter to his young boy, spoken and sung with the kind of honesty you can only manage when your heart is breaking. He explains, as simply as he can, that Tara’s gone, that the house is gone, that things are going to change. But he promises the one thing that won’t: them. He tells his son about the compass painted on his bedroom ceiling and asks him to point southwest whenever he misses his dad. It’s the most personal song on the album — tender, direct, and impossible to sing without meaning every word.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
Hey son, I've got some news to share
I'm gonna tell it to you straight because I know that's only fair
Tara's gone — she left without a word
Didn't say goodbye to me, and I know that must sound absurd
She didn't say goodbye to you, and that's the part that stings
But some people leave in silence, son, that's just the way it rings

[Verse 2]
Now I've got to go away a while, I'm not sure where I'll be
Somewhere out beyond the basin, trying to find a part of me
You won't see the house again or play out in the yard
I know that's a lot to hear, and I know that change is hard
But there'll be new places, son, new ground beneath your feet
And every mile I travel out, I'm closer to complete

[Chorus]
So don't be scared, don't be scared
I know it feels like everything just came apart
But you're the strongest thing I've ever known
And you're the best thing in my heart
I might be underneath the western stars
Trying to find where I belong
But you and me, that's the one thing, son
That'll never come undone

[Verse 3]
You've always been the bravest boy, much braver than your old man
Smart enough to know this hurts, strong enough to understand
She might have torn some things apart when she walked out that door
But she can't take the love I have — that isn't hers anymore
That's ours, son, that's just ours, built before she came
And it'll still be standing long after I forget her name

[Chorus]

[Verse 4]
My daddy roamed the oceans, and he still always loved me
Now I'll be roaming the basin, chasing who I'm meant to be
I'll sleep out under canyon walls and wake up to the sky
And I'll think of you each morning, son, before the sun gets high
Keep being good to your friends, keep doing what you do
And anytime you miss me, kid, I'm only a phone call through

[Bridge]
I won't pretend this doesn't hurt
I won't pretend I've got it figured out
But I have walked through wreckage before
And I know what the other side's about
Sometimes the road is how you heal
Sometimes the leaving is the start
And I'll carry you with me every mile
You're the truest thing I've got, you're the map inside my heart

[Verse 5 — The Compass]
Now when you're lying in your bed and the night feels way too wide
Look up at the compass that I painted on your ceiling, let it be your guide
Remember what it says underneath — not all who wander are lost
And your old man might be wandering, but I'm worth the cost
I'll be southwest of you, son, out where the desert meets the sky
And every time you trace that compass, know I'm underneath the same moonlight
So point your finger to the southwest, whisper something if you want
I swear I'll hear you on the wind, son, all the way from where I'm at

[Chorus]
So don't be scared, don't be scared
I know it feels like everything just came apart
But you're the strongest thing I've ever known
And you're the best thing in my heart
I might be southwest underneath the stars
Learning how to find where I belong
But you and me, that's the one thing, son
That'll never come undone

[Outro]
Just look up at that compass, son
And know I'm never really gone
Southwest of you, beneath the stars
Your old man's just finding who he is

A road song with swagger. He drove out of Atlanta on the first of July and hasn’t stopped moving since. Kansas City, Sioux Falls, a motel west of Tucson where the AC barely tried. Every town’s a stranger and every stranger’s got a story. He’s collecting miles like souvenirs and he’s gone before the coffee’s cold. It’s the most rhythmically driven track on the album — country-hip-hop hybrid energy with 808 bass under bright acoustic guitar. The kind of song that makes you nod before you sing.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
Drove out of Atlanta on the first day of July
Air so thick I couldn't tell the asphalt from the sky
Everything I owned was in the bed behind the cab
A duffel bag, a guitar, and a life I didn't plan to have
Hit the county line and something shifted in my chest
Like the rearview finally quit competing with what's next
Cranked the window down and let the highway fill my lungs
Felt like the second half of something barely just begun

[Pre-Chorus]
I don't know where I'm headed and I don't much care
Every mile puts a little more distance in the air
Between the man who stayed too long and the man who's finally free
Only thing I'm chasing now is whoever I'm gonna be

[Chorus]
I'm gone by morning, gone before the sun
Gone before the coffee's cold, gone before I'm done
Every town's a stranger and every stranger's got a story
I'm collecting miles like souvenirs
And I'm gone by morning

[Verse 2]
Kansas City looked at me like I was overdressed
Khaki shorts and boat shoes in a bar that knew me best
As "that guy from somewhere east who doesn't know the drill"
But the band was playing covers and the whiskey hit the bill
Sioux Falls had a diner where the chicken-fried was king
The waitress called me "honey" and it didn't mean a thing
But it meant enough to sit there feeling human for an hour
Eating food that fought back harder than a marriage going sour

[Pre-Chorus]
Still a little city in the places I don't fit
Still reaching for a menu like it's something I submit
But nobody's keeping score out here, nobody's taking notes
Just another drifter learning how to stay afloat

[Chorus]
I'm gone by morning, gone before the sun
Gone before the coffee's cold, gone before I'm done
Every town's a stranger and every stranger's got a story
I'm collecting miles like souvenirs
And I'm gone by morning

[Verse 3]
Found a motel west of Tucson where the AC barely tried
Lay on top of the sheets and felt the heat waves off the ride
Ceiling fan clicked circles like a clock that lost its mind
And I smiled, 'cause for the first time I had nowhere else to find
Played a set in some roadside place where nobody knew my name
A girl with turquoise earrings said she liked the way I came
Alive up on that barstool with a beat-up borrowed sound
I was the excitement that rolled into town
And I'd be gone before the next one came around

[Bridge]
Now I won't pretend I don't think about the yard
The neighbors and the mortgage and the life that fell apart
But the thing about a rearview is it only shows you where you've been
And I've been there long enough — I'm not going back again
The road don't care about your credit score
Don't care about your lawn
It just keeps on rolling forward
And it wants you to come along

[Chorus — Final]
I'm gone by morning, gone before the sun
Gone before the coffee's cold, gone before I'm done
Every town's a first date and every sunset's something new
I'm collecting who I am one highway at a time
And I'm gone by morning
Yeah, I'm gone by morning

[Outro]
I'm gone by morning

The first real breath of the journey. He’s pulled off the highway where the pavement turns to dust and found himself standing in a basin where the sky comes all the way to the ground. No signal, no voice, no noise — just wind across the sagebrush. He finds an abandoned homestead turning silver with time and a band of wild horses on the ridgeline, and his heart breaks open. Not from sadness, but from knowing that something beautiful doesn’t need to be explained. The west starts teaching him things the suburbs never could.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
I pulled off the highway where the pavement turns to dust
Past a sign that promised nothing
But a hundred miles along a white line
The engine ticked like a heartbeat in the silence all around
And I stood there in the basin where the sky came to the ground
No signal on my phone, no voice to fill the air
Just the wind across the sagebrush like a whispered kind of prayer

[Pre-Chorus]
And I thought I came out here to get away
But standing in the nothing, I finally had something to say

[Chorus]
In the open spaces, where the hours lose their name
Where the mountains hold the sunset like a slow and steady flame
I found the part of me that all the noise had buried deep
In the open spaces, I remembered how to breathe
In the open spaces, I remembered who to be

[Verse 2]
There's a homestead off the gravel where the roof caved in with time
The wood is turning silver and the sage is climbing through the pine
Somebody built a life here, raised a family, worked the ground
Now the wind is the only tenant and it doesn't make a sound
I put my hand against the doorframe, felt a hundred years go by
And I thought about the things we build and how they all know how to die

[Pre-Chorus]
But dying isn't ending, it's just giving back the land
And maybe I've been holding on to things I don't understand

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
Then I saw them on the ridgeline, moving fast against the grey
A band of wild horses like a dream that ran away
And my heart broke open — not from sadness, not from pain
But from knowing something beautiful doesn't need to be explained
They were free because they'd never learned to ask for anyone's permission
And I stood there thinking maybe that's been my condition

[Chorus]

[Outro]
I still drive those empty highways when the world gets way too loud
Park the truck and kill the engine and just listen to the ground
There's a sermon in the silence if you let it find your ears
In the open spaces
That's where I disappear
That's where I finally appear

The funniest song on the album, and maybe the most liberating. His ex always said buying a truck would be the last straw — turns out she was the last straw. Now he’s out where the pavement ends with mud on his boots, a dent in the fender, and a life that doesn’t fit in the box of their old cul-de-sac. Everything he owns fits in a six-foot bed: a few shirts, a pair of skis, and the life inside his head. Her disapproval turned out to be the best green light he ever got.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
I never wanted a truck, never needed the room
A sedan fit the driveway, matched the suburban perfume
You said "If you buy a pickup, I'll be out the door"
Like four wheels and a flatbed were the thing worth fighting for
We had a two-car garage and a well-manicured lawn
But you left me anyway, so now, baby, you're gone

[Pre-Chorus]
Didn't need one for the Home Depot run
Didn't need one for the school carpool fun
But now I'm out where the pavement ends
And I think I need a truck… and maybe better friends

[Chorus]
You wouldn't have approved, but here I am
Dust on the dash and no particular plan
You can't leave me 'cause you already did
And you can't take what you already took
I'm loading up a life that doesn't match the one we had
Into something loud and wide and probably a little bad
You wouldn't have approved, and honestly, that's fine
Turns out your disapproval was the best green light of mine

[Verse 2]
I didn't need a truck in the life I had with you
Cul-de-sac to Costco was the most I'd ever do
Now everything I own fits in about a six-foot bed
A few shirts, a pair of skis, and the life inside my head
I don't need a guest room and I don't need a garage
My whole world rides behind me, and it's not a lot, but God, it's large

[Pre-Chorus]
Didn't need one when the neighbors waved hello
Didn't need one for the drama on our little cul-de-sac road
But now I sleep wherever the stars come out
And I think I need a truck… and a whole lot less to think about

[Chorus]
You wouldn't have approved, but here I am
Mud on my boots and no particular plan
You can't hurt me 'cause you've already gone
And I'm finally singing my own kind of song
I'm loading up a life that doesn't match the one we had
Into something loud and wide and probably a little bad
You wouldn't have approved, and honestly, that's fine
Turns out your disapproval was the best green light of mine

[Bridge]
Now I know what you'd say if you saw me at the lot
"That's not who you are, that's not what we'd got"
But the man you built me into, well, he drove a sensible car
The man I'm building now needs something with a little more… scars
It ain't because of you
No, maybe in spite of you
That I'm out here needing things
I never knew I'd choose

[Chorus — Final]
You wouldn't have approved, but here I am
Dent in the fender and a half-baked plan
You can't leave me 'cause you're already gone
And I can't be hurt 'cause I'm having too much fun
I've got a life that doesn't fit in the box that was our street
Loaded up in something loud with mud on every seat
You wouldn't have approved, and honestly, that's fine
Turns out your disapproval was the best green light of mine

[Outro]

A reckoning with the past that refuses to give it any credit. She took what she wanted and walked out the door, and he was the one left smiling through the neighbors’ questions. He sold the house, hit the highway heading west, and found out who he was somewhere between the worst and the best. Now he dresses like a mountain man, smiles at the setting sun, and has peace inside his chest. He’s a new version of himself — and she doesn’t get to take credit for that.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
You took what you wanted and walked out the door
Left me standing in the wreckage on the kitchen floor
I was the one who told the neighbors where you'd gone
Smiled through the questions, kept my composure on
Boxes in the driveway, for sale sign in the yard
Turns out letting go of everything ain't all that hard

[Chorus]
I told myself no looking back
But looking back is still what I do
All these years out on the road
Don't think I'm looking back at you
You might think you wrecked me when we were through
But I'm a new version of me now
No thanks to you

[Verse 2]
Sold the house in August, hit the highway heading west
Found out who I was somewhere between the worst and best
Slept in desert motels, sang in roadside bars
Learned to read my future in a sky full of stars
Every mile behind me was a mile I got to choose
Funny how you find yourself when you've got nothing left to lose

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
Now I dress like a mountain man and I never get cold
Don't need things to fill me up, don't need things to feel whole
My heart races for the wild things, I smile at the setting sun
Living miles from those suburbs where you wanted us to run
Got dirt under my fingernails and peace inside my chest
Turns out the man you left behind just needed to be left

[Bridge]
I won't say I'm grateful, I won't say I'm glad
But I won't give you credit for the best thing I ever had
This heart that's still beating, this voice that found its song
It was always mine for the taking
I just had to learn where I belong

[Chorus]
I told myself no looking back
But looking back is what got me through
All these years out on the road
I was looking back at who I knew
You might think you made me when we were through
But I'm a new version of me now
No thanks to you

[Outro]
Still think about you sometimes when the night gets long
But you're just a memory now
Fading like an old song
I'm a new version of me now
No thanks to you

Standing alone in the desert basin at night, he sees a meteor streak across a sky full of stars and makes a wish as small as standing still. He wasn’t asking for a miracle — just to be okay. The universe had other plans. She didn’t arrive like lightning or a flood, more like water finding where it goes. This song is about the moment you realize that the thing you needed most showed up when you weren’t looking for it, and that the universe doesn’t give you what you ask for — it gives you something better.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
Been rolling through the basin on my own
Shedding skins I didn't know I wore
The stars out here are sharp and cold as bone
I've been alone enough to know the score
I wasn't asking for a miracle
Just standing in the dark between the hills
I saw a streak of light cross the sky
And made a wish as small as standing still

[Chorus]
I saw a falling star
On that cold clear night
I didn't know right away
You'd be coming into sight
I wished on that star
Just to be okay
The universe had other plans
And steered you my way
Falling star, what did I wish for
How did I deserve for that wish to come true
That wish turned out to be you

[Verse 2]
You didn't arrive like lightning or a flood
More like water finding where it goes
Something quiet moving in my blood
Something I recognized but didn't know
I was still mid-journey, still mid-road
Still becoming what the desert had in mind
You didn't ask me to put down my load
Just walked beside me for a while and let me find

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
The universe don't rush its revelations
Some gifts arrive in their own time
I had to wait for the clouds to part and show me
What had always been written in the sky
And there she was, steady as the north light
Not a wish burning out on its way down
But a fixed point burning through the darkness
A direction when I needed to be found
Like a chorus that keeps coming back around

[Bridge]
I've been the kind of man who needs the open sky
Who has to feel the road beneath his feet
Most love would pull against that, wonder why
But you just smiled and said go find what you need
Come back when the desert's done its work
Come back when the road has said its piece
I'll be here with roots running deep in the earth
The anchor at the center of your reach
And slowly it came clear to me
Standing under all those western stars
The universe doesn't give you what you ask for
It gives you something better by far

[Chorus]

[Outro]
I wished on that star
Just to be okay
The universe sent you
And here we are
Falling star
That wish turned out to be you

The first song from her perspective. She had a full life before he showed up — her boys, her friends, her classroom door — and she wasn’t looking for anything more. But he crept in through the ordinary: shirts left beside her pillow, strips on bags he never quite tore, the little things left on the floor. She doesn’t need him to be complete. She just loves how he makes her more. It’s a love song for people who’ve already learned to be whole on their own and choose each other anyway.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
I've got a good life and I know it
My boys, my friends, my classroom door
I was whole before I met you
I wasn't looking for anything more
But you crept in through the ordinary
Left your mark on everyday things
I find your shirts beside my pillow
Wear them to bed like a second skin

[Chorus]
It's the textures of love
The strips on the bag you never quite tore
I always know when you've been here
By the little things you leave on the floor
It's the textures of love
The ones that stay when you're gone
I don't need you to be complete
I just love how you make me more

[Verse 2]
You read to me over the phone
In the dark when we're far apart
I'd rather have you here beside me
But I feel you just as deep in my heart
Just the sound of your voice in my ear
As I'm drifting off to sleep
I like my space and I like my life
And I love the company you keep

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
My people know me, hold me, keep me grounded
We laugh loud and stay up way too late
And when you come through, you just fall right in
Like you always knew how to find your place
I'm the anchor here and I know it
Got roots that run down deep and wide
But you come blazing through my neighborhood
Like a comet crossing my sky
I don't need to own that light
I just love when it passes by

[Bridge]
I was standing in the grocery store
Reaching for a toothbrush off the shelf
I turned around and there you were
I couldn't help myself
I just smiled — I couldn't stop —
And then I sank into your arms
That's the thing about us, isn't it
I light up every time

[Chorus]
It's the textures of love
The strips on the bag you never quite tore
I always know when you've been here
By the little things you leave on the floor
It's the textures of love
The ones that stay when you're gone
I don't need you to be complete
I just love how you make me more

[Outro]
I don't need to own that light
I just love when it passes by
The textures of love
The ones that stay when you're gone
I just love how you make me more

The first love song on the album, and it’s about leaving. He slips out at dawn while she’s still sleeping, heading back into the red rock country that’s been reshaping him. But this isn’t an escape — it’s the opposite. She kissed him like she knew he wouldn’t last long, but she didn’t hold him, and that felt right. She told him to go find what the desert has for him and come back when the road runs out. He’s never been loved like that before — by someone without a doubt. Every mile out is another mile back to her.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
Sun's barely up and I'm already gone
Left you sleeping in that early light
You kissed me like you knew I wouldn't last long
But you didn't hold me, and that felt right
You said go find what the desert has for you
Come back when the road runs out
I've never been loved like that before
By someone without a doubt

[Chorus]
I'm almost done here
I've got to go
I need to wander
And feel the road
I want to see where this will go
Can't just stay still
I got the desert on my brain
And the road in my blood
Rushing forward like a freight train

[Verse 2]
Out here where the red rock meets the sky
The silence fills me up like grace
I think about the way you looked at me
And how it's still with me in this place
You gave me something rare and hard to name
A room to be unfinished and unknown
I'll come back more worthy of your faith
More myself, and more your own

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
The road starts talking in a different tongue
When the desert's given what it has to give
I can feel the pull before I turn around
Like she's the reason and the place I live
Not a tether, not a chain around me
Something deeper, something more like truth
She's the gravity I keep returning to
And the road just makes that more clear to me
Every mile out, another mile back to you

[Bridge]
This early on most love wants everything
Won't let you out of arm's reach or sight
But you stood there quietly witnessing
And sent me toward the desert and the light
I'll come back fuller, come back grateful
Come back quieter and more sure
The road just shows me what I'm made of
And you're what I keep coming home for

[Chorus]
I'm almost done here
I've got to go
I need to wander
And feel the road
I want to see where this will go
Can't just stay still
I got the desert on my brain
And the road in my blood
Rushing forward like a freight train

[Outro]
Every mile out
Another mile back to you
The desert on my brain
And the road in my blood

Her anthem. She spent a decade learning how to disappear, shrinking down to fit inside somebody else’s fear. Now someone shows up who grabs the keys and says “we’ll go until you get sick of me” — and she laughs, because he doesn’t even see that she waited years for someone this free. This is the sound of a woman who planned her words like someone walking over glass finally realizing she doesn’t have to earn the right to sit still. Every morning he’s still something new.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
I spent a decade learning how to disappear
Shrinking down to fit inside somebody else's fear
Two boys at my table, three chairs where there used to be four
I taught myself to love the quiet on the other side of that door
But quiet has a way of turning into something new
And something new walked in the day I walked toward you

[Pre-Chorus]
You say "let's take the weekend, maybe drive until the road runs out"
And I don't flinch, I don't think twice, I don't have any doubt
You grab the keys and flash that grin and say what you always do

[Chorus]
"We'll go until you get sick of me"
And I laugh because you don't even see
That I waited years for someone this free
Honey, I never get sick of you
No, I never get sick of you
Every morning you're still something new
I never get sick of you

[Verse 2]
I used to plan my words like someone walking over glass
Every sentence was a minefield, every good day wouldn't last
Now you leave me notes on napkins, sing off-key to make me smile
And I don't have to earn the right to just sit still a while
We're not kids pretending we know what forever means
We're two people with some scars who found out what it's worth to dream

[Pre-Chorus]
You say "let's pack a bag, I found this place I think you'd love"
And I don't freeze, I just say yes, because yes is now enough
You hold the door and shake your head and say what you always do

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
I won't pretend the past didn't leave its marks
I still get nervous when it's quiet after dark
But you don't try to fix what you didn't break
You just show up every day for every day's sake
And that's the thing that finally got through —
You never asked me to be anything but true

[Chorus]
So we'll go until I get sick of you
And I laugh because we both know the truth
That I waited half my life for this proof
Honey, I never get sick of you
No, I never get sick of you
Every morning you're still something new
I never get sick of you

[Outro]
You say "or until you get sick of me"
And I just smile and pour the coffee
Baby, that day's never coming
I never get sick of you

His side of the same story. She had a life before him, built it with her own two hands, and she doesn’t need a hero — she just needs someone who shows up. He’s not that guy from the movies. He’s the guy who learned that showing up is how you prove you belong. He watches her shoulders soften when she sees he means it. He knows she still gets quiet when the night comes on too fast. He doesn’t try to fix what he didn’t break. He just shows up every morning for every morning’s sake. This time, he’s going to get it right.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
She had a life before me, built it with her own two hands
Raised those boys on backbone when her world went off the plans
She doesn't talk about it much, but I can see it in her eyes
The way she checks the weather before she trusts a clear blue sky
I'm not the guy who rode in like some hero in a song
I'm just the guy who learned that showing up is how you prove you belong

[Pre-Chorus]
So I say "let's take the weekend, maybe drive until the road runs out"
And I watch her shoulders soften when she sees I mean it, no doubt
I grab the keys and flash a grin and say what I always do

[Chorus]
"We'll go until you get sick of me"
And she laughs like that's the funniest thing
Like I don't know what it cost her to believe
And she says "I never get sick of you"
God, I'll spend my whole life earning that truth
I'm just a man who finally got the chance
To do it right this time

[Verse 2]
I've had my own wreckage, my own lessons and regrets
A couple chapters I'd rewrite if life would let me place the bets
But every wrong turn put me standing in that room the night we met
And I remember thinking "don't you dare be something she'll forget"
She doesn't need me to be perfect, she just needs me to be real
And real is waking up beside her and still not believing what I feel

[Pre-Chorus]
I say "I found this place I think you'd love, let's pack a bag and go"
And she just nods and grabs her coat like trust is all she needs to know
I hold the door and shake my head and say what I always do

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
I know she still gets quiet when the night comes on too fast
I know she's measuring the present by the shadow of the past
I don't try to fix what I didn't break
I just show up every morning for every morning's sake
And when she looks at me like maybe this is true
I want to be the man who's worthy of that view

[Chorus]
So we'll go until she gets sick of me
And she laughs and says that day she'll never see
And I don't know what I did to earn this free
But she says "I never get sick of you"
And I'll spend my whole life proving that's true
I'm just a man who finally understands
You do it right this time

[Outro]
She says "I never get sick of you"
And I just smile and pour the coffee
Thinking, God, don't let me waste this
I'm doing it right this time

Both sides of the love story, woven together. His lines and her lines interlock like two people who finally stopped talking past each other and started finishing each other’s sentences. The same moments — the weekend drives, the coat grabbed off the hook, the coffee poured in the morning — told from two hearts that took different roads to the same kitchen. The album’s emotional centerpiece, built for two voices that were always meant to sing together.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1 — Female]
I spent a decade learning how to disappear
Shrinking down to fit inside somebody else's fear
Two boys at my table, three chairs where there used to be four
I taught myself to love the quiet on the other side of that door

[Verse 2 — Male]
I'm not the guy who rode in like some hero in a song
I'm just the guy who learned that showing up is how you prove you belong
She doesn't talk about it much, but I can see it in her eyes
The way she checks the weather before she trusts a clear blue sky

[Pre-Chorus — Alternating]
(Male) So I say "let's take the weekend, maybe drive until the road runs out"
(Female) And I don't flinch, I don't think twice, I don't have any doubt
(Male) I watch her shoulders soften when she sees I mean it, no doubt
(Both) And then he says what he always does...

[Chorus — Both]
(Male) "We'll go until you get sick of me"
(Female) And I laugh because you don't even see
(Male) I don't know what it cost her to believe
(Female) Honey, I never get sick of you
(Both) No, I never get sick of you
(Female) Every morning you're still something new
(Both) I never get sick of you

[Verse 3 — Female]
I used to plan my words like someone walking over glass
Every sentence was a minefield, every good day wouldn't last

[Verse 4 — Male]
Now I leave her notes on napkins, sing off-key to make her smile
She doesn't have to earn the right to just sit still a while
We're not kids pretending we know what forever means
We're two people with some scars who found out what it's worth to dream

[Pre-Chorus — Alternating]
(Male) I say "I found this place I think you'd love, let's pack a bag and go"
(Female) And I just nod and grab my coat like trust is all I need to know
(Male) I hold the door and shake my head
(Female) And he says what he always does

[Chorus — Both]
(Male) "We'll go until you get sick of me"
(Female) And I laugh like that's the funniest thing
(Male) Like I don't know what it cost her to believe
(Female) Honey, I never get sick of you
(Male) God, I'll spend my whole life earning that truth
(Both) We're just two people who finally got the chance
(Male) To do it right this time
(Female) I never get sick of you

[Bridge]
(Female) I won't pretend the past didn't leave its marks
(Male) I know she still gets quiet when the night comes on too fast
(Female) But you don't try to fix what you didn't break
(Male) I just show up every morning for every morning's sake
(Female) And that's the thing that finally got through
(Male) I want to be the man who's worthy of that view
(Both) You never asked me to be anything but true

[Chorus — Both]
(Male) So we'll go until you get sick of me
(Female) And I laugh because that day you'll never see
(Male) I don't know what I did to earn this free
(Female) Honey, I never get sick of you
(Male) And I'll spend my whole life proving that's true
(Both) We're just two people who finally understand
You do it right this time
I never get sick of you

[Outro]
(Male) She says "I never get sick of you"
(Female) He says "or until you get sick of me"
(Both) And we just smile and pour the coffee
(Male) God, don't let me waste this
(Female) Baby, that day's never coming
(Both) We're doing it right this time

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse]
I used to sing this song like it was something I survived
Like I had to prove I made it out the other side
But sitting here this morning with this life I didn't plan
With her coat by the door and her coffee in my hand
I don't need to prove a thing and I don't need someone to blame
The road that started in that wreckage led me somewhere I could change

[Chorus]
I told myself no looking back
And I don't think I need to anymore
All these years out on the road
I found out what the leaving was for
You might think you wrecked me when we were through
But I'm a man who found his life now
And I owe none of it to you
But I don't need you to know that anymore

[Outro]
(Spoken, quiet, like setting something down:
I said "no thanks to you" for a long time. Now I don't say anything at all. And that feels like the real freedom.)

The album’s most self-aware moment. He loves the west — the sky, the mesa, the wild horses — but he’s still the guy who checks the reviews before he books the night and whose most rugged act today was making his own pour-over. He’s more North Face than Levi’s, more sunset than campfire smoke. He might be allergic to horses. His browser history is still “best trail near me” and “how to build a fire.” But he’s out here and he means it, and he’s done apologizing for the joke. Heartland rock in the spirit of Tom Petty — warm, wry, and windows down.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
I didn't come out here to play a part or learn somebody's lines
I just needed enough sky to leave the old me behind
Somewhere past the highway and the last familiar sign
I started feeling something I could only call mine
I love the way the mesa turns to gold before the dark
And how the silence out here sounds like breathing after holding it too hard
But I'm still the guy who checks the reviews before he books the night
And the most rugged thing I've done today is make my own pour-over right

[Pre-Chorus]
I'm out here living like I've done this all my life
But my browser history's still "best trail near me" and "how to build a fire"

[Chorus]
I'm not quite a cowboy, not quite the real thing
I don't rope or ride, but man, I love the wide open everything
I'm more North Face than Levi's, more sunset than campfire smoke
But I'm out here and I mean it
Even if I'm still a little bit of a joke
Not quite a cowboy
But I'm closer than I was before

[Verse 2]
I think I might be allergic to horses, but I love that they run free
Something beautiful about them — maybe best from about ten feet from me
I can tell you where I'm going, not from some compass in my chest
But because my GPS said turn left and I mostly acquiesced
I'd probably rather drink the bottled water than whatever's in your well
And I don't just watch the sunrise — I can tell you my rising sign as well
I've read three books on desert ecology and bookmarked four more
I'm the only guy in Moab with a library card from a nationwide store

[Pre-Chorus]
I'm not faking it, I'm just doing it my way
Part mountain man, part next-day delivery same-day

[Chorus]
I'm not quite a cowboy, not quite the real thing
I don't rope or ride, but man, I love the wide open everything
I'm more North Face than Levi's, more sunset than campfire smoke
But I'm out here and I mean it
Even if I'm still a little bit of a joke
Not quite a cowboy
But I'm closer than I was before

[Verse 3]
The locals see me coming and they smile like they've seen my kind
City boy who read a book and thought the desert blew his mind
And yeah, they're mostly right — but here's the thing they get wrong too
I didn't come out here to play pretend, I came out here to just be true
I shed the house, the car, the wife, the version I performed
But I didn't trade one costume for another uniform
I'm just a man who found the sky and didn't want to leave
Even if he still needs SPF and checks the pollen count to breathe

[Bridge]
See, the west doesn't ask you to be someone you're not
It just gives you enough space to figure out what you've got
I've got a truck I barely know how to park
A tent I set up wrong the first three times in the dark
A heart that races for the wild things even if they make me sneeze
And a soul that needed room
The desert gave me all of that and more
I'm not the cowboy in the movie
I'm the guy who loves the view
And that's enough — that's more than enough
That's finally, actually true

[Chorus — Final]
I'm not quite a cowboy, not quite the real thing
I don't rope or ride, but man, I love the wide open everything
I'm more North Face than Levi's, more sunset than campfire smoke
But I'm out here and I mean it
And I'm done apologizing for the joke
Not quite a cowboy
But I'm closer than I was before
Yeah, I'm not quite a cowboy
But I don't think that matters anymore

[Outro]

Her view of the man who keeps leaving and keeps returning. He comes off the road a little dusty, smelling like campfire and gas station coffee, grinning like he won something no one else was running for. She took him to the Coalville Rodeo and he sneezed through half of it — probably the horses. He’s not quite a cowboy, but he sure does love to roam, and every time he comes back he’s a little more like home. A short, sweet front-porch song about loving someone who’s still becoming.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
He comes off the road a little dusty, a little worn
Boots that used to be clean, shirt that's seen a few too many mornings
He smells like campfire and gas station coffee and the sun
And he stands in my doorway grinning like he just won something no one else was running for
I don't say much, I just pull him in
He drops his bag and the whole house changes like the weather shifting with the wind

[Chorus]
And I can see it on him
The way the road fills him up
He leaves a little restless
And comes back with just enough
Quiet in his shoulders, something settled in his eyes
Letting him go is always the hardest part
But getting back this changing man
Makes it worth it every time

[Verse 2]
Now he's not quite a cowboy, though he likes to think he's close
He's more library card than lasso, more sunscreen than the great unknowns
I took him to the Coalville Rodeo last summer just to see
He loved every minute of it but he sneezed through half the evening — I think it was the horses honestly
He came home talking about the riders like he'd known them all his life
I just smiled and poured the coffee and thought yeah, you're gonna be alright

[Chorus]
And I can see it on him
The way the open changes who he is
He's not the man who showed up at my door
He's something braver now than this
He's still not quite a cowboy
But he sure does love to roam
And every time he comes back
He's a little more like home

[Bridge]
I had my life before him and it's still my life with him
He didn't fill a space — he just walked in and fit
I don't need him here to feel complete
But God, I love it when he's in the room
With desert in his hair
And that grin that says I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere
At least not till the next time the road starts calling
And I'll just kiss him at the door
Because the man who keeps becoming
Is the man I keep adoring more

[Outro]
He's not quite a cowboy
But he's mine
And he always comes back different
And he always comes back right

The bookend. The same title, transformed. He went looking for somewhere west of himself and found it wasn’t a place — it was a life he hadn’t built yet. The song revisits the album’s opening guitar figure, but now it’s in a major key and the pedal steel is warm where there was silence before. Every thread comes together: the truck, the desert, the falling star, the woman who believed, the coffee poured in the morning. He’s not running anymore. Somewhere west of him turned out to be right here.

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
I drove out of a driveway and into something new
Didn't know the destination, just knew I was overdue
I wrote a letter to my son with tears I couldn't hide
Then I hit the highway heading west with nothing but my pride
I slept in desert motels where the AC barely tried
Ate in roadside diners where the chicken-fried was fried
I lost the house, the car, the lawn, the life that looked so right
And somewhere past the pavement I started sleeping through the night

[Pre-Chorus]
I thought I was looking for the middle of nowhere
Turns out I was looking for the middle of me

[Chorus]
There's somewhere west of me
And I finally found it
Not a place upon a map, more like the space around it
It was the sky that never ended and the road that let me breathe
The silence and the wild things
And a woman who believed
That somewhere west of me
Was somewhere I could be

[Verse 2]
I'm not the cowboy in the movie though I bought myself the hat
I still check the reviews and I'm mostly fine with that
I'm not the man I was in that suburban quiet street
And I'm not the drifter either — I'm somewhere in between
She had a life before me, built it with her own two hands
And she didn't need me to be perfect, she just needed me to land
Not like a hero, not like a fix, just like a man who stays
Who shows up in the morning and means it when he says

[Pre-Chorus]
"We'll go until you get sick of me"
And she laughs like I don't know what that costs her to believe

[Chorus]
There's somewhere west of me
And she's standing in it
A life I couldn't picture till I was living every minute
It was the open spaces and the stars that steered me through
The falling star I wished on
When all I wished for was to just be okay
The universe sent you
Somewhere west of me
Was always leading me to you

[Bridge]
I'm not running anymore
I'm not listening for something calling
I found the place where restless finally rests
And I don't feel like I'm falling
I was somebody else's version for too long
I went and found out what I'm for
And what I'm for is standing right in front of me
I'm not looking anymore

[Chorus — Final]
There's somewhere west of me
And I'm already there
A life I built from wreckage and from open desert air
I know the cost and I have paid the toll
And every mile I wandered
Led me closer to my soul
There's somewhere west of me
And I don't have to go
'Cause I'm already home

[Outro]

Falling Stars + In the Open Spaces Mash Up
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This is a bonus track for purchasers of the album. It was admittedly a mistake in the editing process, but I accidentally mashed up the lyrics of both Falling Stars and In the Open Spaces. It's a big rousing version of the two songs together and I loved it. So for those of you that were kind enough to buy the record, this is a special thank you!
Whiskey In My Coffee (Live)
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A bonus preview of the first track from the next album. He played a bar to fifteen people and woke up famous. Now everybody wants a piece of him, and the pieces don't last long. This is his deal with the world: throw a little whiskey in my coffee if you want me to sing tonight. He'll give you everything he's got — but when the lights come down, he's just a man who needs a little room to live. She still pours it black, though. Every single morning.

Tracks

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