G                                    C
The highway 441 don't look much the same
G
They straightened out all the curves and
               C
turned it four-lane
D
They by-passed every downtown clear
         G     Em
up to Clayton
Am                                        D
We make better time now but damn it's a bore


[Chorus]
                          C
So honey, let's take the long way
             G
Hang a hard left and then bare to the right
                             C
Hell, I ain't been through Clarksville
      G
Since I was just learnin' to drive
                 D
We used to come fish in the creeks around here
               Am
A few cans of corn and a twelve-pack of beer
                D
We'd walk the banks till it was too dark to see
             Am            G           C
Momma'd be drunk so she's hand me the keys and say
D            G        C
Go back the long way
     G         C
The long way


[Verse]
G                                                   C
I used to drive across the gorge every couple weekends
G                                         C
Baby sister was just barely walkin' back then
D                                          G    Em
I never stayed long 'cause momma made me crazy
Am                                         D
I'd hang out until dinner and say I got to go
C
And I'd head back down the long way
                 G
And step off in Demarest [?] I got the urge
                 C
To see my old sweetheart
        G
If I's lucky I'd sleep there with her
           D
I swore I loved her but I never did
                   Am
I thought I was a man but I's just a kid
            D
Before the Lord brought you into my life
                 Am           G            C
I traveled this road but I's lost all the time
D           G         C
Out on the long way
     G         C
The long way
G                                                  C    Em
Tiger Mountain ain't far from the house where she died
G                                               C
She drifted off in her sleep on a clear Sunday night
D                                         G     Em
She called me that day, I said momma I'm busy
Am                                           D
I woke up Monday mornin', found out she was gone


[Chorus]
C
So we went back the long way
G
It was the only way there used to be
                       C
And i's cryin' like a baby
    G
So you did the drive in for me
             D
I'll never forget how gentle you were
 Am
Holdin' my hand, standin' over her
             D
I knew back then you'd be the woman I'd
       Am                 G       C
Lovin' you's one thing I don't regret
     G                     C
And we've come a long way
   G         C
A long way
     G                               C
The highway 441 don't look much the same