A farmer and a teacher, a hooker and a preacher
Ridin' on a midnight bus bound for Mexico
One's headed for vacation, one for higher education
An' two of them were searchin' for lost souls
That driver never ever saw the stop sign
Eighteen wheelers can't stop on a dime
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway
Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows
Guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you
It's what you leave behind you when you go
That farmer left a harvest, a home on eighty acres
Faith, love of growin' things in his young son's hearts
And that teacher left her wisdom in the minds of lots of children
Did her best to give 'em all a better start
And that preacher whispered, "Can't you see the Promised Land?"
As he laid his blood-stained bible in that hooker's hand
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway
Why there's not four of them, Heaven only knows
I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you
It's what you leave behind you when you go
That's the story that our preacher told last Sunday
As he held that blood-stained bible up
For all of us to see
Said, "Bless the farmer, and the teacher, an' the preacher
Who gave this Bible to my mama who read it to me"
Now there are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway
Why there's not four of them, now I guess we know
It's not what you take when you leave this world behind you
It's what you leave behind you when you go
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway