Crosswind – English Lyrics

• By: Chris Stapleton
• Album: Higher

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the soul of American country music with Chris Stapleton's "Crosswind." This song offers a vivid narrative of a truck driver's life, filled with resilience, longing, and the challenges of the open road. Learning the lyrics will not only connect you to deeply felt emotions but also expose you to authentic storytelling and regional expressions common in contemporary country music, making it a powerful and special song for language learners.

[English]

I can see what's coming for me

By the way that it's bending the pines

Brother, me and these eighteen wheels

Are gonna hammer on down the line

Flying like a bat out of hell

Tearing out of North Alabama

Signs are saying, Jesus Saves

But the devil don't give a damn

Tryin' to keep all the rubber on 65

Might not make it out alive

White knuckling the wheel just to survive

Caught in the crosswind, caught in the crosswind

Caught in the crosswind, caught in the crosswind

Sometimes, what drives a man

Ain't nothing but a matter of will

When a man's got a heavy load

He's just tryin' to make it over the hill

Burning the hours taking truck-stop showers

And sleeping in the cheap motels

Picking up speed on a mission to feed five kids with a CDL

Tryin' to keep all the rubber on 65

Might not make it out alive

White knuckling the wheel just to survive

Caught in the crosswind, caught in the crosswind

Caught in the crosswind, caught in the crosswind

It's a fight in the dark of night

With another hundred miles to run

When your mind starts tryin' to find ways

To get you out from under the gun

This livin' ain't much of a life

But it's the only thing I know how to do

I miss you, honey but I gotta make some money

So I'm hoping I can make it through

Tryin' to keep all the rubber on 65

Might not make it out alive

White knuckling the wheel just to survive

Caught in the crosswind, caught in the crosswind

Caught in the crosswind, caught in the crosswind

Caught in the crosswind, caught in the crosswind

Key Grammar Structures

• I can see what's coming for me

  ➔ Present continuous tense

  ➔ The phrase "what's coming" uses the present continuous tense with 'is coming' to indicate an action happening now or in the near future.

• By the way that it's bending the pines

  ➔ Relative clause

  ➔ The phrase "By the way that it's bending the pines" is a relative clause that describes the manner in which the pines are bending, using 'that' to introduce the clause.

• Flying like a bat out of hell

  ➔ Simile

  ➔ The phrase "like a bat out of hell" is a simile that compares the speed or intensity of the action to that of a bat flying frantically.

• Tryin' to keep all the rubber on 65

  ➔ Gerund

  ➔ The word 'tryin' is a gerund, functioning as a noun to describe the action of trying.

• Might not make it out alive

  ➔ Modal verb (possibility)

  ➔ The phrase uses the modal verb 'might' to express a possibility or uncertainty about making it out alive.

• White knuckling the wheel just to survive

  ➔ Present participle

  ➔ The phrase 'white knuckling' uses the present participle to describe an ongoing action of gripping the wheel tightly.

• Ain't nothing but a matter of will

  ➔ Double negative

  ➔ The phrase uses a double negative with 'ain't nothing but' to emphasize the idea that it is solely a matter of will.

• Picking up speed on a mission to feed five kids with a CDL

  ➔ Prepositional phrase

  ➔ The phrase 'on a mission to feed five kids' is a prepositional phrase that explains the purpose of picking up speed.