A Change of Notion

I was rolling out of Knoxville on a rainy Friday night
Back to Atlanta, work it out with my wife
But I just got to thinking, why I can’t explain
It might have been the radio, it might have been the rain
Now something must have put me out here on the road
You know I had a change of notion, never made it home

I went on down to Shreveport, stopped by to see a friend
He was living with his mama, life had got the best of him
Said, “I lost my taste for working and polite society
And I just sit around with Mama, drink beer and watch TV
And that’s the very thing that put me right here where I am
You know I had a change of notion, do not give a damn."

Early in the morning I walked out to my car
Said goodbye to my friend, gave twenty dollars to his ma
She said, “I’ll take it, but it’s got to be a loan
Just now you understand, we’re living close to the bone
But one thing I can tell you I’ve learned along the way
There can be a change of notion, can be a brighter day.”

When I got to Houston, I gave my wife a call
She answered on the phone in her sweet southern drawl
Said “I knew you wasn’t coming , and if you did it wouldn’t do
There ain’t no kind of fixin’ the thing with me and you
And so I got to thinking, and I made a better plan
You know I had a change of notion, found another man.”

When I walked away from that phone booth didn’t occur to me to cry
A handful of quarters was all it took to say goodbye
A handful of quarters jingling like a jailer’s keys
Put an end to all that trouble there was with her and me
And that’s the very thing that took us to the fork in the road
You know we had a change of notion, confession on the phone

That’s the way it was, you know I never looked back
Drove across the country in a beat out Pontiac
Ain’t no doubt about it, I’d do it all again
Give my heart to the highway, fall in love with the wind
And that’s the very thing that keeps me travelling down this road
You know I had a change of notion, long time ago