Paying My Respects
A gritty Texas blues-rock song about a woman who stayed when there was nothing in it for her. Through empty cupboards, broken-down cars, failed plans and hard years, she never kept score or asked what she'd get in return. Now that better days have finally arrived, he hasn't forgotten who stood beside him when times were lean.
“Paying My Respects” isn't about buying loyalty—it’s about recognizing it. With dirty guitars, a hard roadhouse groove and a weathered male vocal, the song is a thank-you to the woman who gave without asking, stayed without surrendering her backbone, and deserves to share in every good thing that came afterward.
You can't buy the kind of loyalty that was there before you had anything to give.
Music video
Lyrics
Had the morning sun behind me
And a hundred miles to burn
Two wheels humming under leather
No particular place to turn
Wind was pulling at my jacket
White lines rolling underneath
Had the whole wide world in front of me
And nothing chasing me
Then somewhere west of nowhere
Where the blacktop shimmered bright
You came blowing through my story
Like a tumbleweed in flight
Like a tumbleweed across the highway
You came rolling out of nowhere into me
I was riding where the wind blew
You were doing just the same
Two strangers at a crossroads
With no reason for a name
I never saw you coming
Never knew what you would mean
You just crossed my road one morning
Like a tumbleweed
You were leaning on the railing
At a little roadside place
Dust upon your old blue denim
And the sunlight on your face
Said you weren't headed nowhere
That sounded good to me
So we pointed west together
Just to see what we could see
We rode beneath a sky so big
It made the mountains small
Never made each other promises
Never needed them at all
Like a tumbleweed across the highway
You came rolling out of nowhere into me
I was riding where the wind blew
You were doing just the same
Two strangers at a crossroads
With no reason for a name
I never saw you coming
Never knew what you would mean
You just crossed my road one morning
Like a tumbleweed
There were nights beneath the neon
There were mornings cold and clear
There were miles when we said nothing
Just glad the other one was near
You could hear my engine talking
I could read your tail light glow
Two machines and two directions
Still choosing the same road
Maybe chance is just a word we use
For things we can't explain
Like finding something worth remembering
On an ordinary day
Some folks plan their whole damn journey
Every stop and every mile
I learned the best things on the highway
Ain't been waiting there a while
Sometimes they come rolling sideways
With the dust beneath their feet
And suddenly the road you're riding
Ain't the road you thought you'd see
Like a tumbleweed across the highway
You came rolling out of nowhere into me
I was riding where the wind blew
You were doing just the same
Two strangers at a crossroads
Till the crossroads knew our names
I never saw you coming
Still don't know what made it be
You just crossed my road one morning
Like a tumbleweed
Now the wind is in my face again
That old engine underneath
And every time one crosses the road
I think of you and me
Yeah, you crossed my road one morning
Like a tumbleweed
