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