Back When It Mattered

We were parked by the water tower

Radio low windows down

You had your boots on my dashboard

Talking bout getting outta this town

We didn't have much but Friday nights

And a tank on half if we were lucky

You said if we're gonna build something real

It ain't gonna come easy honey

We didn't know where we were going

Just knew we weren't alone

Back when it mattered

We were learning how to stay

When the lights went out and the money ran dry

We didn't walk away

We were young and reckless

But we held on to each other

Yeah we didn't have forever figured out

But we had one another

Back when it mattered

Now there's toys in the driveway

Bills stacked up on the fridge

You're still leaning in the doorway

Watching me cross that bridge

We've had nights we didn't talk much

And mornings we said too much

But somewhere between the hard days

We built something they can't touch

It wasn't always easy

But it was always ours

Back when it mattered

We were learning how to stay

When the lights went out and the money ran dry

We didn't walk away

We were young and reckless

But we held on to each other

Yeah we didn't have forever figured out

But we had one another

Back when it mattered

It wasn't diamond rings or big city dreams

It was front porch fights and apologies

It was don't you quit and I won't either

It was faith in something we couldn't see

Back when it mattered

We were building what we've got

From a small-town promise

And everything we're not

Yeah we didn't know how strong we were

Until the hard days scattered

Looking back now I can see

That's when it really mattered