For years I’d wanted to write a song about three sounds that catch my heart’s notice: a train horn in the distance, pedal steel guitar playing especially by Sneaky Pete Kleinow, and the voice of my wife and musical partner, Gretchen Schaefer. But attempts that hewed close to that literal theme went nowhere — too much plan, not enough song. Finally, in 2015, I found a way to let the words go where they wanted. This song was the result. Gretchen, steel, and train are all still there, but now as prominent elements in a larger tapestry depicting the pleasures and pains of passing time.