Friday night, little roadside diner
Coffee steam and neon light
I was balancing trays and daydreams
Trying to make it through another night

Then you walked through that front door laughing
Short hair underneath that faded cap
Old blue jeans, boots worn down from miles
And a t-shirt with “Marines” on the back

I tried to write down your order
But my hands forgot what to do
And when you smiled across that counter
Lord, it went right through




I still hear the sound of your keys
Swinging from that old Ford seat
Radio playing some old country song
Your hand wrapped around me

Every memory still lives and breathes
Like your boots still echo down our street
And every time our little boy smiles at me
Baby, it feels just like
The sound of your keys




Tailgate nights by the river bank
Bare feet dangling in the air
You’d sing every word to George Strait
Like there wasn’t a worry anywhere

Then a white dress and church bells ringing
My daddy crying in the pew
But all I saw was that crooked smile
The same one I fell into

Then a hospital room at sunrise
Tiny hands and sleepy blue eyes
You held our baby boy against your chest
And I watched forever in your eyes

And when you looked at me so softly
Like I was still your whole world somehow
That smile moved through my body
Just like it’s moving now




I still hear the sound of your keys
Swinging from that old Ford seat
Radio playing some old country song
Your hand wrapped around me

Every memory still lives and breathes
Like your boots still echo down our street
And every time our little boy smiles at me
Baby, it feels just like
The sound of your keys




Then one cold morning came knocking
Harder than my heart could take
Two uniforms standing silent
And the whole world started to shake

They said there’d been an accident
During some training overseas
And I swear the last thing I heard
Was your keys hitting the kitchen sink




Now every year when autumn comes
Me and your boy drive out alone
He places a little flag beside you
And brushes leaves off your stone

Then he turns around and grins at me
Same eyes, same heart, same light
And for a second I see you standing there
In the golden afternoon sky

That same smile steals my breath away
Like the first night we met
And I know that young Marine I loved
Ain’t really left us yet




I still hear the sound of your keys
Somewhere between heaven and me
In an old Ford truck and a slow country song
Where your memory still breathes

And our little boy, he carries you
In every laugh and every dream
Yeah, every time he smiles at me
I still feel you rushing through me

Like a screen door opening softly
Like boots walking back to me
Like love that never really leaves

Baby…
You’ll always be
The sound of your keys