Child of the Big Sky Lyrics

Back road black-top, two lanes wide
Dusk is callin' on a pastel sky
I adjust my rear view mirror to see the last of the light
Reflecting on the river where I sat by your side

Rise up early, before the sun
Nestle in the river reeds and wait for the ducks that come in
All the way from Canada, just to see them light
Upon the silvery river I watch them from your side

Mmm, I've heard you speaking to the woods
In a voice you never knew I understood
I'll only be a lover in your life
I can see it in your eyes, you've taken the river for your wife

We climbed up through a stand of cottonwood and sycamore
To rest against the hood of your old white pickup Ford
I can see it in your face, a small expression that I know
The river she keeps callin', now it's time for me to go

Drive on through the night, now the city lights appear
Scattered on the skyline like a fallen chandelier
Oh and I have fallen too, I said as much but you did not hear
Over the roar of the river only a whisper in your ear

Mmm, you are possessed by the wilderness
Quite content in your lovely loneliness
I'll only be a lover in your life
I can see it in your eyes, you've taken the river for your wife
Yes, I've seen it in your eyes, you've taken the river for your wife

• Vocals and Acoustic Guitar - Kim Miller
• Acoustic Guitar - Mitch Watkins
• Mandolin - Paul Glass
• Backing Vocals - Raje Heyer
• Kim Miller, ©1996 Sea Robin Songs (ASCAP)

There's a picture on the mantle of you as a little girl
Big eyes thrown wide open like windows to the world
It was cattle, oil, and cotton then, it was home, home on the range
The memories fill your pocket now like too much loose change
It was "ride-'em-cowgirl, let your pigtails fly"
Your age was your advantage and too soon you were obliged
To trade in your fringed shirt for one starched and white
With lace around the collar and it buttoned up too tight

You were a child of the big sky
You were a child of the big sky

Well they don't like fences in West Texas backyards
Where a young imagination carried you far
And when you made up your stories it wasn't "kings and queens"
But "Roy Rogers loves Dale Evans", you loved Porter Wagoner on the screen
And you'd ride off into the sunset with your cowboy Romeo
In a rhinestone-studded jacket, gone to join the rodeo
Down a road that went forever, across the naked miles
But you were always home by dinner, with a journey in your smile

You were a child of the big sky
You were a child of the big sky

Grown up now, when you go home, nothin' looks the same
Where is your red-neon Pegasus, you used to find him from the plane
He once topped the Mobil Building, this steed of you childhood dreams
With an iridescent mane and great golden wings
Did they haul him away in the back of a truck, tie him down to make him stay
Or one night when no one was watching, did he just up and fly away
Fly away like the last of your innocence, fly away like your racing heart
When you see your picture on the mantle now and you can't tell us apart

You were a child of the big sky
You were a child of the big sky

• Vocals and Acoustic Guitar - Kim Miller
• Acoustic and Electric Guitars - Mitch Watkins
• Violin - Gene Elders
• Kim Miller, ©1996 Sea Robin Songs (ASCAP)