Manitoba Just Short of Nashville (5 Variations)

[Manitoba Just Short of Nashville] (C) Copyright John Johnston 2025. All Rights Reserved.

Find a particular song or audio section by clicking on its start time (Key Moment - Chapter) below:

00:00:00 Manitoba Just Short of Nashville
00:03:54 Manitoba Just Short of Nashville 2
00:07:48 Manitoba Just Short of Nashville (Expanded) 4
00:12:56 Manitoba Just Short of Nashville (Expanded) 3
00:17:35 Manitoba Just Short of Nashville (Expanded) 2
00:23:46 Total Running Time

[Manitoba Just Short of Nashville] (C) Copyright John Johnston 2025. All Rights Reserved.

[Instrumental]

[Verse 1]
There's a place I know just up the road.
Truck stops waiting on the right.
Got to stop and rest this heavy load.
I'm a thousand miles away from her tonight.

I left my home for Nashville, Tennessee.
Told my friends I'd be a star.
A country picker singing fantasy.
It's a long, long way to come and not go far.

[Chorus]
Manitoba, just short of Nashville.
Where the grasslands touch the sky,
prairie lady is waiting for her cowboy.
A picker and a grinner who was good enough to try.

[Instrumental]

[Verse 2]
Thought I'd reach and grab the golden ring.
Lord, I did my very best.
They didn't care too much for the songs I'd sing
and the stories that I told about the West.

Say goodbye to Nashville, Tennessee.
Say goodbye to MP3s.
Guitars and bars wore out the heart of me.
Guess the ending didn't justify the means.

[Chorus]
Manitoba just short of Nashville
where the grasslands touch the sky.
Prairie lady is waiting for her cowboy.
A picker and a grinner who was good enough to try.

[Chorus]
Manitoba just short of Nashville
where the grasslands touch the skies.
Prairie lady is waiting for her cowboy.
A picker and a grinner who was good enough to try.

[Outro]
Manitoba, just short of Nashville, where the grasslands touch the skies.
Paririe Lady is waiting...

***

[Manitoba Just Short of Nashville (Expanded)]

[Instrumental]

[Verse 1]
There's a place I know just up the road.
Truck stops waiting on the right.
Got to stop and rest this heavy load.
I'm a thousand miles away from her tonight.

I left my home for Nashville, Tennessee.
Told my friends I'd be a star.
A country picker singing fantasy.
It's a long, long way to come and not go far.

[Chorus]
Manitoba, just short of Nashville.
Where the grasslands touch the sky,
prairie lady is waiting for her cowboy.
A picker and a grinner who was good enough to try.

[Instrumental]

[Verse 2]
Thought I'd reach and grab the golden ring.
Lord, I did my very best.
They didn't care too much for the songs I'd sing
and the stories that I told about the West.

Say goodbye to Nashville, Tennessee.
Say goodbye to MP3s.
Guitars and bars wore out the heart of me.
Guess the ending didn't justify the means.

[Bridge]
The highway lines are blurrin' by the score,
Each mile a lesson learned, a debt repaid.
I chased that thunder but I missed the shore.
Now every lonely mile back home is made.

It ain't the fame I lost, it's just the fire,
That burned a hole right through my prairie pride.
But nothing beats the comfort of my dear desire,
And all the true blue love I cast aside.

[Instrumental]

[Verse 3]
Stopped the truck beneath the northern light.
Sky's a canvas painted wide.
Just three hundred miles from holding her tight.
No more stages where I had to hide.

The neon fades to fields of open gold.
The only melody I need
Is a story that my sweetheart can be told.
Just the promise of a quiet life to lead.

[Chorus]
Manitoba, just short of Nashville.
Where the grasslands touch the sky,
prairie lady is waiting for her cowboy.
A picker and a grinner who was good enough to try.

[Chorus]
Manitoba, just short of Nashville.
Where the grasslands touch the sky,
prairie lady is waiting for her cowboy.
A picker and a grinner who was good enough to try.

[Outro - Enhanced]
Manitoba, just short of Nashville...
Where the grasslands touch the skies...
That prairie lady is waiting for her cowboy.
Yeah, she's waitin' right there for me, waiting for her man...
No more chasin' ghosts across this land.

[Instrumental]

***