Everything I’ve lived through has had a hand in making me who I am. The blessings and the things that hurt, every bit of it taught me something and made me stronger for having dealt with it.
I wouldn’t be the same person if any of it had been different. That’s what this song means to me, and why it became the name of this album. It’s who I am.
Lyrics
Tennessee sunrise, coffee gone cold
Another busted fence post, another day I ain't owed
Boots by the porch, mud on the Chevrolet
Learned life the hard way and still got somethin' left to say
Three little voices call me grandpa at night
That's more gold than I ever held in this life
Still got big dreams this town might never see
But these backroads keep buildin' the man I'm tryin' to be
I've been bent but I ain't folded
I've been lost but I ain't gone
Every mile that tried to break me
Put another piece of armor on
I was raised where the gravel meets the fields
Where a man ain't measured by the money that he builds
I've swung at tomorrow with these calloused hands
Missed more than once but I still took my stand
If my kids know I loved 'em when my race is run
If my family stands taller than the fortune I never won
Then every hard mile, every scar, every dream
Was just another backroad buildin' me
I've loved folks who didn't know how to stay
Carried words I never got to say
Still believe love is worth the fight
Even when the quiet cuts deep at night
I've bet on myself with my back to the wall
Built somethin' from nothin' just to watch it fall
But every closed door and every hard truth
Taught me what to carry and what to cut loose
I've been bent but I ain't folded
I've been lost but I ain't gone
Every mile that tried to break me
Put another piece of armor on
Someday I hope they say I gave more than I took
Raised my kids with love, not fear and dirty looks
Tried like hell to be a better dad than the one I had
And leave 'em somethin' stronger than the hurt that raised me wrong
Money comes and goes, but love is what remains
That's the only kind of rich I'd ever wanna claim
I was raised where the gravel meets the fields
Where a man ain't measured by the money that he builds
I've swung at tomorrow with these calloused hands
Lost more than I won but I still took my stand
When they lay me down in that Tennessee clay
Let my kids say I loved 'em every step of the way
Let my grandkids carry more grace than grief
And know every backroad built the best of me
Every hard mile, every scar, every dream
Was just another backroad buildin' me