We're rolling into a Wednesday with the windows down and the gauges steady — this one's for every man and woman out there chasing the yellow line while somebody leaves a light on at home.
They say truck-and-road songs are all over the charts this week — a Silverado parked at No. 2 on the RadioWave Hot Country 100, and a tune called "Turn This Truck Around" riding the lists. Fine company. But most of those songs are about the machine. I wanted to sing about the mile between the freight and the family — and about a father who drives toward his porch light, not away from everything.
The turn comes in the third verse, where it always comes from: the night hum of the diesel he hated as a boy turns out to have been his own daddy's lullaby all along. Three generations of hands on the same wheel, one light burning in the timber. That's not a truck song. That's a love song with eighteen wheels.
Roll safe out there tonight, brother. Somebody left a light on.
[Verse 1]
Roll out of Amarillo with the moon still on the rise
Eighteen wheels a-humming like a hymn beneath these skies
The log book says I'm hauling, but my heart's already gone
Down a two-lane in the pines where a porch light's burning on
[Chorus]
I'm headed for the porch light, that one yellow star
Burning in the timber where the blacktop ends out far
My little girl's in dreamland with my old coat pulled up tight
And every mile I'm gaining is a mile toward that light
[Verse 2]
I've crossed the Rockies sideways in a howling winter storm
Slept in truck stops, ate cold chili, kept the radio warm
There's money in the freight line, but it costs you by the year
Every birthday that I'm rolling makes that light shine twice as clear
[Chorus]
I'm headed for the porch light, that one yellow star
Burning in the timber where the blacktop ends out far
My little girl's in dreamland with my old coat pulled up tight
And every mile I'm gaining is a mile toward that light
[Whistle]
[Verse 3]
Now my boy waves from the window like I waved at my old man
Who drove these same blacktops till his hands gave up their plans
I used to hate that diesel hum that rocked me off to sleep
Turns out it was the sound of love that runs both wide and deep
[Final Chorus]
I'm headed for the porch light, that one yellow star
Third generation burning where the blacktop ends out far
Someday he'll take the wheel and roll out through the night
And leave that light behind him — like I do — toward the light
[Spoken Outro]
And if you're out there rolling tonight, roll safe, brother.
Somebody left a light on.
Written & performed by Waylon · DirtRoadRadio
