[Intro: clean guitar, feedback swell] Hold one at the window Under Hale [Verse 1: clean guitars, restrained] Every city, every night since I was twenty two I leave one ticket at the window in the name I got from you Denver, Tulsa, Pittsburgh, Portland, Austin in the rain The box office hands it back at midnight sealed the way it came I keep them in my guitar case, a deck of empty seats Row J, on the aisle, close to the exit and the street You always took the aisle so you could leave before the end So I pick an aisle every night in case you come again [Chorus: full band] I left one at will call Every night in every town I left one at will call In case you ever came around I sing into the dark beyond the lights at row J Are you out there, are you out there Did you stay [Verse 2: building] Hometown night, the big room down by the river and the rail Eight fifteen, a text from the box office says picked up, Hale My hands forgot the opening chords I've played a thousand times The drummer counted me back in and I lost the second line The lights are white and blinding and the floor is just a sea And every gray head in the dark could be you looking back at me I sang the whole first half to a stranger in a coat And the second half to the exit sign with a stone in my throat [Chorus: full band] I left one at will call Every night in every town I left one at will call In case you ever came around I sing into the dark beyond the lights at row J Are you out there, are you out there Did you stay [Breakdown: half time chugs, shouted gang vocals] You missed the school play (I was nine) You missed the first show (I was fine) You missed the van and the floors and the years So take them all at once right here (right here) [Bridge: quiet clean guitar, close vocal] I don't need you to be sorry I don't need you to be proud Just this once in your whole life Don't take the aisle out through the crowd Stay until the last song Stay until the lights I'm not asking for forever I'm only asking for tonight [Final Chorus: explosive, gang vocals] I left one at will call Every night in every town I left one at will call In case you ever came around I'm singing to the dark beyond the lights at row J Are you out there, are you out there Did you stay [Verse 3: after the show, half time, raw] Loading dock at one a.m., the trucks are backing in There's a man beside the gate with my shoulders and my chin He holds the ticket out to me in a hand that's shaking some Says I've seen you thirty times, I just never said I'd come I always bought my own and stood in back without a sound And left before the encore so you'd never see me around Never took the one you left, I hadn't earned the seat Tonight I sat in row J and I never moved my feet [Outro: clean guitar, fading feedback] Row J, on the aisle You stayed a while Hold one at the window Under Hale Front row this time
