It's about fifteen hundred miles to California
They'll get there Friday if they leave tonight
She sneaks out at three thirty in the morning
Leaves a note so she won't see her daddy cry

He cuts the engine when he coasts in the driveway
She slides in and gives him one kiss for the road
No friends and no family, no job out there waiting
The whole town will call them crazy but they gotta go

'Cause when you're young and in love, yeah
You might do some things that don't seem all that smart
'Cause there ain't no greater distance
Than the eighteen inches from your head to your heart, yeah, yeah

They can barely make rent on a rundown apartment
She's waiting tables and he's a valet
They're behind on the bills and the car's barely running
But he buys a ring with the tips that he's saved

When you're young and in love, yeah
You might do some things that don't seem all that smart
'Cause there ain't no greater distance
Than the eighteen inches from your head to your heart

Last thing they need is another mouth to feed, but they want one
They're just kids themselves but that's gonna change in nine more months

She wakes him up at three thirty in the morning
Ready or not their new life's gonna start
Seven pounds and eighteen inches
The doctor lays that new baby's head right on her heart

When you're young and in love, yeah
You might do some things that don't seem all that smart
But thank God for those eighteen inches
The distance it is from your head to your heart, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah