The Story:
Rick Skoog, Joe Gardonio and myself were driving to Nashville for Tin Pan South. (If you are a songwriter, it’s the superbowl.) We were in the middle of Illinois when I grabbed a guitar that Rick had just built from the back of the SUV and started playing around. I love picking up a guitar and finding what songs are hidden inside. I started picking out the changes and we searched for ideas to write about. Rick said to write about what we could see and the first thing we saw was a highway sign.

Highway sign makes me smile says I’m halfway home
To that little tiny farmhouse at the end of that dirt road
Where I kick off my shoes and walk through Fields of Understanding

Leave my troubles, doubts and fears chained up at the gate
Fit into my skin again, embrace a slower pace
Turn around, lay me down in Fields of Understanding

Gentle rain quenches my thirst
And heals the hurt
And the breezes unfurl my mind
Like clothes on the line in summertime
It’s where I feel whole
Deep roots help me grow

Sweet and fertile blade of grass in the corner of my mouth
Breathe the scent of fresh mown hay and breathe my worries out
Home at last! Home at last! Fields of Understanding

Highway sign makes me smile says I’m halfway home
To that little tiny farmhouse at the end of that dirt road....