For sale by owner sign On highway fifty-nine A signal of the times A turnin' of the page There used to be nothin' here But then nothin' disappeared The pond, the barn, the farm, the fields Have long since been replaced Asphalt parking where that ten pew, Pentecostal stood Fast food, four lanes and a subdivided neighborhood The walls of the world are closin' in The spreadin' city spreads us thin We can't seem to make our ends, meet the black Never would've thought it wouldn't last The way of life, time moved past What I wouldn't give to have, the back 40 back Maybe I'm a sucker for Knowing who lives next door A view from my back porch A pinch of peace and quiet I can't get back the used to be's So I hang on to the memories Of when I could still look up And see the stars not streetlights shinin' The walls of the world are closin' in The spreadin' city spreads us thin We can't seem to make our ends, meet the black Never woulda thought it wouldn't last The way of life, time moved past What I wouldn't give to have, the back 40 back Now I get that progress has it's place And no regard for what it takes Wish it would slow it's pace and cut us all some slack 'Cause it's all changing way too fast A way of life that time moved past What I wouldn't give to have the back forty back