I left home at the age of fourteen Left my dad's ranch outside Burns, Oregon He and I, well you know we had our differences But after sixteen years I can't remember one
Yeah it's sixteen years since I've seen my parents' faces Since the angry day I left them far behind So many things then seemed so damned important Same things today I just wouldn't them any mind
Well I knew I was gonna find things better When I packed my bags and set out on the roam But it was a hard road that I had to travel Now I'm hoping that that same road leads me home
My decisions, well I must stand by them However far away I may feel from those days now But I'm going home at last to see my family Maybe bury our bad blood deep in the ground
I arrived there on a Sunday morning But to my surprise the old house was empty and bare The front door window was smashed and broken There was no sign of my folks ever having lived there
So I ran right down to neighbor's farm house And I explained to him who exactly that I was He said, "Son, well I'm truly sorry, But you see your folks passed on many years ago"
Late that evening at the Malheur graveyard I sat and watched that old desert sun go fading out These cold tombstones don't give no kind of comfort And that old road can't lead me back home now