I got a pair of old boots, leather cracked like my dreams,

Worn ‘em down through the backroads, bustin’ at the seams.

They’ve walked me through the hard times, through the mud and rain,

Carried me from heartache to heartache, and they’re still holdin’ the pain.

Old boots and new bruises, that’s the life I know,

Ramblin’ through the shadows where the lonesome rivers flow.

With a heart full of stories and a pocket full of dust,

I keep movin’ on, ‘cause movin’s all I trust.

Met a girl in a diner, she was pourin’ coffee black,

Her smile was like a sunrise, but her eyes were holdin’ back.

She said, “Mister, you’re a stranger, but you look like you’ve been here,”

I said, “Darlin’, I’m just passin’ through, chasin’ ghosts and fear.”

Old boots and new bruises, that’s the life I know,

Ramblin’ through the shadows where the lonesome rivers flow.

With a heart full of stories and a pocket full of dust,

I keep movin’ on, ‘cause movin’s all I trust.

There’s a jukebox in my memory, plays a song that don’t end,

‘Bout a man who loved too deeply, and a world that wouldn’t bend.

Every scar’s a little lesson, every tear’s a lonesome tune,

Singin’ ‘bout the things I’ve lost beneath a whiskey moon.

I saw Jesus in a barroom, he was drinkin’ all alone,

He said, “Son, you keep on wanderin’, but you’ll never find a home.”

I tipped my hat and left him there, with his bottle and his grace,

Kept walkin’ down that gravel road, with a smile upon my face.

Another dawn is breakin', paintin' the highway gold,

Just another mile behind me, another story's told.

The wind is a whisper, carryin' distant cries,

And the dust on my old boots, reflects the morning skies.

Old boots and new bruises, that’s the life I know,

Ramblin’ through the shadows where the lonesome rivers flow.

With a heart full of stories and a pocket full of dust,

I keep movin’ on, ‘cause movin’s all I trust.

So let the highway keep callin', let the wild winds blow,

With old boots and new bruises, watch this free spirit go.

Got no maps or directions, just the rhythm of the road,

A wanderer forever, lightenin' my heavy load.

So when they lay me down to rest, in a box of pine and clay,

Put my boots beside me, let ‘em walk another day.

Tell the wind to sing my story, let it whisper through the pines,

‘Bout a man with old boots and new bruises,

old boots and new bruises