High school halftime Friday night

Standing on the fifty yard line

Big old blue and gold tuba in my hand



I could see Katie Ann in the popcorn line

Couldn't see how to make her mine

I was always in the band



At eighteen I found a cheap guitar

Became Seeger and Willie in a smokey bar

And bared my soul beneath a rusty old mic stand



I get her name and number on a second break

Watch someone dance my chance away

I was always in the band



Sometimes this dream demands more than I can give it

But even still I don't regret a single minute

Oh, to hear you laugh, to feel your pain

To see a thousand waving flames

It's just a part of me, that's who I am

I was always in the band



Met her backstage before a show Las Vegas rodeo

Three months later I asked her for her hand



We tied the knot on the Sixth of June

Woulda had a honeymoon

But I was always in the band



Left Dallas on the way to Omaha

Round Tapeeka when I got the call

Baby's coming, honey, get here when you can



Yeah, I guess I shoulda turned that bus around

I'da let 30,000 people down I was always in the band



Sometimes this dream demands more than I can give it

But even still I don't regret a single minute

Oh, to hear you laugh, to feel your pain

To see a thousand waving flames

It's just a part of me

Thank God she understands

I was always in the band



I was always in the band