Met her somewhere after midnight Under sodium-amber light She wore boredom like couture I wore certainty too bright She said, "Do you always sound this certain?" I said, "Only when I'm right." Then she smiled like she'd selected What would happen to the night She named the road as if a dare I smiled as if I'd known it A lesser man would ask the way I thought I'd rather own it NINE MILE RIDE! Past the white lines, past good advice No straight roads after midnight No clean version in daylight NINE MILE RIDE! Call it distance, call it pride Some roads end where maps go quiet I just took the Nine Mile Ride She knew each bend before it happened I knew how to improvise Every warning lost its language Every red light changed its mind There were gradients uncharted Hairpin turns no map could show By the time the dawn was gossiping I'd gone where lesser men won't go No compass, no confession No witnesses, no proof A gentleman respects the journey And improves upon the truth NINE MILE RIDE! Past the white lines, past good advice No straight roads after midnight No clean version in daylight NINE MILE RIDE! Call it distance, call it pride Some roads end where maps go quiet I just took the Nine Mile Ride The atlas is a coward's crutch For men who fear surprise I don't measure distance north to south I measure it in nights Every road is just a rumour Till somebody makes it myth And history gets much more interesting When I'm the one telling it Nine miles there Nine miles back According to the sign But signs are made for lesser men And clocks are made to lie NINE MILE RIDE! Past the white lines, past good advice No straight roads after midnight No clean version in daylight NINE MILE RIDE! Let the cartographers decide Some roads end where maps go quiet I just took the Nine Mile Ride Nine Mile Ride
