Halfway between home and Nashville is a truck stop that sits off of I-40 in Dandridge TN. I’ve probably stopped there hundreds of times in my life. I wanted to write a song about that place and the people that go in and out everyday of the year. Scott Lynch and I began writing this fictional story and a year later the song was done. It’s one of my favorites that I’ve written and I think we nailed the story. I chose the name of the female character, Darcy, from one of my favorite John Denver songs called “Darcy Farrow”.

What Did I Do To Deserve This

Ray/Lynch/White 

 

Darcy works till sunup filling

Orders and coffee cups

It ain’t what she thought her life would be

She dreamed of being a mother

Till the day he left her

Stranded at exit 417

In a truck stop just off I-40

Her fairy tale became a horror story

At night she wants to scream

What did I do to deserve this?

 

Hank was an all-star he had a

Rocket for a right arm

Motoring for the major leagues

Seventh inning in St. Paul

Life threw him a curve ball

That torn elbow ended his dream

Now the only strike he’s throwin’

Is the lucky strike he’s smokin’

From the cab of his rig out to the street

And he thinks

What did I do to deserve this?

 

You roll your dice

You play your cards

You live your life

You learn life’s hard

But all you ever wanted was a chance

What did I do to deserve this?

 

Truck stop off 40

Three o’clock in the morning

Hank’s been driving half the night

Darcy warms his coffee

She smiles as they’re talking

Falling in love by sunrise

Ten years and a fairy tale later

He’s the third base coach for their second grader

When they tuck him in and turn out the light

They ask God

What did we do to deserve this?

When my oldest son was 6 years old he went to spend the night with a friend about 4 houses down. He took about everything he had in his room!  Howeve, about 2 hours later he called wanting to come home. I went to the end of the driveway to wait on him. He ran up the road in only his PJ's and nothing else. All he wanted to was to be back with his dad. He left everything else behind. God accepts us as we are, baggage included. This is my take on the prodigal son in the bible. The prodigal in all of us!

Like a freight train running out of control
To the world head on till there's a crash
I know he needs to learn the hard way
Push the envelope as far as it would go
Now the money gone he's far from home
I know he needs to learn the hard way

Sometimes pain brings relief
Sometimes the bottom
Is the only way to find peace

Roll out the red carpet
He's there in the distance running
To his Father's arms
Bring out the best linen
Put food on the table
My son who was lost
Is running home
Roll out the red carpet

Just when I thought I'd had it kicked
I'm face to face with this old sin
Looks good from where I'm standing
After all is said and done
I pack my bags back on the run
Is there a cave that I can hide in

Now the cravings come and gone
What I thought I needed
Has left me here so all alone

Growing up as a kid i could look out my bedroom window onto a very large field beside my house. Before my grandfather Jake died, he used that field as a garden. He had everything imaginable in it. He worked 5 days a week in a hosiery mill. When he got home he would many days hop on his yellow tractor and plow that garden. I grew up loving vegetables from the garden! My grandfather was a man of faith. He would tell me that even though he planted the seeds and plowed the garden he couldn't make it rain. He depended on God for that. Some 25 years later while thinking of that and how we have to depend on God to take care of us, this song was born.

HAND OF GOD
Ray/White

The harvest will be rough
Unless the rains come
It's one of those trying times i know
But i've got mouths to feed
I count on every seed
I'm not at the end of my hope
I believe the clouds are gonna come
I believe the rains are gonna fall

This is the hand of God
Moving where i can't see
It's way ahead and making a way for me
This is his providence
Sometimes it don't make sense
But if it did it wouldn't be faith
There ain't no earthly king
There ain't no earthly thing
That can stop the hand of God

Another day goes by
It's still an uphill climb
And you're no further down the road
And those you've trusted in
They've let you down again
You've never felt this alone
But just believe he knows exactly where you're at
Just believe he's not finished yet

Don't be afraid
Do not despair
Because he has promised
He will be there
He will be there

Written while sitting on the beach in Panama City, Fl. Written in about 30 minutes. At a time when I realized that I couldn’t’ do it on my own!

STILL
Ray


In the distance I can see
The clouds are rolling in
On my skin I can feel
The rains are falling again
And I’ve seen the strongest storms
I’ve drowned in my fear
But I know a still small voice
That reminds me

I need to be still
And know you are God
I need to be still
And know you’re in control
For you are God
And I am not
I need to be still
And know you’re in control

There is refuge in your arms
And healing in your hands
And these mountains we must climb
Are to you like grains of sand
And my thoughts are not like yours
My ways are not your ways
But I glory in the truth
That I need you

And if I cast my cares on you
No matter what I do
There is peace because I know
I have you