[Intro] Brushed drums, upright bass, soft piano, vibraphone shimmer, mellow horns [Verse 1] Before the towers touched the sky, Before the fountains learned to sing, There was a dream out in the desert With a little bit of swing. Wilbur had a name in lights, A polished host with desert charm, But dreams can run out of money Before they ever leave the barn. Then the quiet money wandered in, Behind the velvet curtain line, And the Desert Inn came shining Like a jewel in 1950 time. [Chorus] Oh, Desert Inn, Pour the moonlight one more time. Let the Painted Desert shimmer In a warm old Vegas rhyme. Underneath the towers, Underneath the neon blue, There’s a desert dream still glowing Where the old lights once came through. Oh, Desert Inn, You still glow somehow, In the lights beneath the Wynn, On the boulevard right now. [Verse 2] There were fountains at the entrance, Dancing water in the night, A Sky Room over Vegas With the whole town dressed in light. The piano played it easy, Horns were soft and sweet, And the showroom had a sparkle That could stop you in your seat. Sinatra found the spotlight, The old room knew the stars, While golfers walked the fairways Not far from the casino bars. [Chorus] Oh, Desert Inn, Pour the moonlight one more time. Let the Painted Desert shimmer In a warm old Vegas rhyme. Underneath the towers, Underneath the neon blue, There’s a desert dream still glowing Where the old lights once came through. Oh, Desert Inn, You still glow somehow, In the lights beneath the Wynn, On the boulevard right now. [Bridge] From the Sky Room in the morning, You could watch the desert glow, In a city selling wonder With every midnight show. Then Hughes came in for ten days, But ten days turned to years, A penthouse became a turning point In the city’s shifting gears. He bought the room, he bought the name, Then more lights down the line, And old Las Vegas changed again One signature at a time. [Verse 3] The years kept changing costumes, The Strip grew tall and wide, But the Desert Inn kept standing With its old-school kind of pride. MGM, Sheraton, New names on an older door, Still the memory kept walking Across that casino floor. Then April brought a closing, And August dimmed the sign, After fifty years of stories, It was running out of time. [Final Chorus] Oh, Desert Inn, Pour the moonlight one last time. Let the Painted Desert shimmer In a warm old Vegas rhyme. Underneath the towers, Underneath the neon blue, There’s a desert dream still glowing Where the old lights once came through. Oh, Desert Inn, You still glow somehow, In the lights beneath the Wynn, On the boulevard right now. [Outro] So raise a glass to Clark’s old dream, To the fountains and the sand, To the showroom songs and fairway greens, And the ghosts beneath the land. The building’s gone, the story stays, Still shining through somehow, In the lights beneath the Wynn, On the boulevard right now.
