My Baton Rouge (II)

[Intro] [Instrumental: Weeping pedal steel, waltz tempo 3/4, acoustic guitar, warm room ambiance] [Verse 1] The dust has settled on this empty stage The spotlight’s dimming on my final page But through the shadows of this crowded room I smell the jasmine of a Baton Rouge bloom She had a laughter like a summer breeze Her memory lingers in the willow trees [Pre-Chorus] [Male Vocal: percussive, gravelly baritone] And I can hear the crowd begin to sway We're singing back the ghost of yesterday [Chorus] [Audience singing along] Oh, Baton Rouge, where the red river flows! [Female harmonies swell] The sweetest flower that a young man knows! I left my heart where the sweet waters bend Will I ever hold your hand again? [Crowd cheering] [Verse 2] [Heavy chest resonance] I wear the miles like a heavy coat Her name is written in a secret note A velvet ribbon on a dusty shelf I lost her love, and then I lost myself She was a queen of the bayou night Dancing slow in the lantern light [Chorus] [Audience singing along] Oh, Baton Rouge, where the red river flows! [Female harmonies swell] The sweetest flower that a young man knows! I left my heart where the sweet waters bend Will I ever hold your hand again? [Bridge] [Instrumental: Emotional trumpet solo, weeping pedal steel, swelling orchestral waltz] [Chorus] [Audience singing along, full room reverb] Oh, Baton Rouge, where the red river flows! [Female harmonies swell] The sweetest flower that a young man knows! I left my heart where the sweet waters bend Will I ever hold your hand again? [Outro] [Deliberate vibrato, sustained note] My Baton Rouge... [Crowd cheering, applause fades out]