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