[Intro - warm acoustic, a sweet autoharp shimmer, gentle]

[Verse 1 - the yard, and the distinction set up]
There is a yard outside the houses where a campless man must stand
Where the lamps do not reach and the cold comes off the hill
And a man could call that lonely, and a man would not be wrong
If he were standing in it by himself
But I have never stood here by myself

[Chorus - soft female harmony enters]
I am not lonely
I am only campless
And those are not the same, they were never the same
There is no house with my name on the door
But there is a yard, and the yard is full
I am not lonely
I am only campless

[Verse 2 - the wife]
There is a woman in this yard who chose the cold along with me
She could have gone inside a warmer house, she stayed out here instead
She does not need me to be right, she only needs me to be home
And every fire I ever needed
She has been the fire

[Verse 3 - the son and the friend]
There is a son out here who pushes me and will not let me rest
And a friend I have never stood beside, never shook his hand one time
But I have talked to him most every day for the better part of twenty years
And a few good brothers in the dark
Who know my voice, and call it true

[Chorus]
I am not lonely
I am only campless
And those are not the same, they were never the same
There is no house with my name on the door
But there is a yard, and the yard is full
I am not lonely
I am only campless

[Bridge]
The men inside the houses think a man out here is all alone
They cannot see past their own lamplight to the yard
But the yard is where my people are, the ones who came on out
And I would not trade this cold and crowded yard
For the warmest house with half of them inside

[Outro - voice and the warm harmony together]
I am not lonely
I am only campless
The house was never the home
The yard, the yard was always home
I am not lonely