Lyric

Before the morning light had even arrived

Dad quietly got ready in the kitchen

The smell of oil on his work clothes

Somehow always made me feel safe

“Wanna come with me today?”

Mom would ask with a smile

Still half asleep, without hesitation

I’d answer, “Yeah, I’m going!”

The passenger seat of that giant truck

Was the most special place in the world to me

My dad was a trucker

Driving lonely roads before sunrise

He never carried the family in that truck

But somehow, his back was always protecting us

The ramen and gyoza we ate along the way

The smile beyond the rising steam

Even now, I can still remember that taste

It was far too warm to become just a memory

Scenery flowed outside the window

Lights from towns I never even knew

The profile of him gripping that huge steering wheel

Looked so cool to me as a child

Whenever sleep slowly took over

The engine became my lullaby

And before I knew it, he’d covered me with a blanket

Only now do I understand that kindness

He was the kind of man

Who probably couldn’t easily say “I love you”

My dad was a trucker

Never showing weakness to anyone

Through rainy nights and sleepless mornings

He kept driving toward another dawn

Back then, I didn’t understand

How difficult it really is to protect someone

While carrying little me beside him

He was carrying so much more alone

Someday, when I become an adult too

And stand on the side that protects someone else

I wonder if I’ll ever become

Even a little like the back I saw from that passenger seat

My dad was a trucker

Quietly driving endless roads

And because I grew up watching that back

Even now, I can still keep moving forward

Through the steam of ramen and gyoza

I still hear him smiling, saying, “Wanna come again?”

Every time I remember it, I almost cry

But more than anything… I feel proud