a rope is slapping a flagpole
in the dark and driving snow
four hundred miles behind me now
four hundred more to go

lately i've been flowing past the world
like time flows past a life
i've been looking at the faces
at the joy and the strife

we come to pass
not to stay
all that matters anyway
is what will follow you
what will follow you
what will follow you
all the way home

i throw a switch, the kitchen floods with light
she comes bounding out of be
in just an hour we will fall into the night
that flagpole still slapping in my head

with all of this at the table life is sweet
who will deny?
forgive me if I'm mesmerized
by the sound of time flowing by

we come to pass
not to stay
all that matters anyway
is what will follow you
what will follow you
what will follow you
all the way home