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 memory

That keeps you ever gentle o-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'm driftin' through the market place and find

That you're movin' on the back roads by the rivers of my memory

And for hours you're just gentle o-on my mind



Though the wheat fields and the clothes lines

And the junk yards and the highways come between us

And some other woman cryin' to her mother

'Cause she turned and you were go-one



I still might walk for hours, tears of joy might stain my face

And the summer sun might burn me till I-I'm blind

But not where I cannot see you movin' on the back roads

By the rivers flowin' gentle o-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 yard



And layin' down my hair brush

I lean back within my window seat and find

That you're movin on the backroads by the rivers of my memory

Ever smilin', ever gentle o-on my mind