Songwriter: John Hartford
It's knowin' you don't try to buy my freedom
With some promise made of gold
That for you my door stays open
And our love becomes a simple two-way street
And it's knowin' we're not shackled
By forgotten words and bonds
And the ink stains that have dried upon some line
That keeps you on the back roads
By the rivers of my mem'ry
That keeps you ever gentle on my mind
It's not clingin' to the rocks and ivy
Planted on some column now that binds us
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 drift in through the market place and find
That you're movin' on the back roads
By the rivers of my mem'ry
For hours you're just gentle on my mind
Oh the wheat fields and the clothes lines
And the junkyards and the highways come between us
And some other woman cryin' to her mother
'Cause she turned and you were gone
I still might walk for hours
Tears of joy might stain my face
And the summer sun might burn me till I'm blind
But not to where I cannot see
You movin' on the back roads
By the rivers flowin' (gentle on my mind)
The shutters creak and Autumn winds
That make me draw inside myself in silence
Cross-legged now I sit and watch
The endless chase of leaves across my garden
And layin' down my hairbrush
I lean backward in my window seat and find
That you're movin' on the back roads
By the rivers of my mem'ry
Ever smilin', ever gentle on my mind
[From her album 'Tennesee Waltz']
It's knowin' you don't try to buy my freedom
With some promise made of gold
That for you my door stays open
And our love becomes a simple two-way street
And it's knowin' we're not shackled
By forgotten words and bonds
And the ink stains that have dried upon some line
That keeps you on the back roads
By the rivers of my mem'ry
That keeps you ever gentle on my mind
It's not clingin' to the rocks and ivy
Planted on some column now that binds us
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 drift in through the market place and find
That you're movin' on the back roads
By the rivers of my mem'ry
For hours you're just gentle on my mind
Oh the wheat fields and the clothes lines
And the junkyards and the highways come between us
And some other woman cryin' to her mother
'Cause she turned and you were gone
I still might walk for hours
Tears of joy might stain my face
And the summer sun might burn me till I'm blind
But not to where I cannot see
You movin' on the back roads
By the rivers flowin' (gentle on my mind)
The shutters creak and Autumn winds
That make me draw inside myself in silence
Cross-legged now I sit and watch
The endless chase of leaves across my garden
And layin' down my hairbrush
I lean backward in my window seat and find
That you're movin' on the back roads
By the rivers of my mem'ry
Ever smilin', ever gentle on my mind
[From her album 'Tennesee Waltz']