Motorcycle Ride - Alice Wallace

The coffee shop was empty except a table by the door

A ten-minute conversation, we’re not strangers anymore

And I knew what I would answer before he even asked

Something 'bout the way he held his shoulders when he laughed

Small talk in the suburbs to flying 80 on the 10

Just me and him and a Moto Guzzi bike between our legs

The Interstate gave way to the winding mountain roads

I leaned into the curves as if I knew how this should go

But I’ve always been the girl to hang back and play it safe

So afraid of getting hurt by the risks I never take

But I learned two things that night

Don’t hang on too tight and always take that motorcycle ride

The mountain air was sweet and I sipped it in like wine

His cabin smelled of redwood and linseed oil and thyme

I steadied on his arm, still feeling the bike move

After holding on so hard to everything I had to prove

We drifted 'round in circles on the lake all afternoon

Stories of our lives and loves and phases of the moon

I couldn’t tell you whether it was waxing or it waned

But it moved so slow and slight that I never see it change

But I’ve always been the girl to hang back and play it safe

So afraid of getting hurt by the risks I never take

But I learned two things that night

Don’t hang on too tight and always take that motorcycle ride

Some people cross you path and you know they’ll always stay

Others fly you up a mountain and they’re gone the way they came

But that day up at the cabin, that night spent in the pines

That boy and his bike are ever gentle on my mind

But I’ve always been the girl to hang back and play it safe

So afraid of getting hurt by the risks I never take

But I learned two things that night

Don’t hang on too tight and always take that motorcycle ride