It′s knowin' that your door is always open
And your path is free to walk
That makes me tend to leave my sleepin′ bag
Rolled up and stashed behind your couch
And it's knowin' I′m not shackled by forgotten words and bonds
And the ink stains that have dried up on some line
It keeps you in the back roads by the rivers of my memory
Keeps you ever gentle on my mind
It′s not clingin' to the rocks and ivy planted
On their columns now that binds me
Or somethin′ that somebody said
Because they thought we fit together walkin'
It′s just knowin' that the world will not be cursin′ or forgivin'
When I walk along some railroad track and find
Movin' on the back roads by the rivers of my memory
And for hours you′re just gentle on my mind
Well, I dip my cup of soup back from the gurglin′
Cracklin' caldron in some train yard
My beard a roughenin′ coal pile
And a dirty hat pulled low across my face
Cupped hands 'round a tin can
I pretend I hold you to my breast and find
That you′re wavin' from the back roads by the river of my memory
Ever smilin′, ever gentle on my mind
Writer(s): John Hartford
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