[Verse 1] Two AM on a two-lane blacktop The radio just coughed up static hiss My tired eyes were fighting the drop And the needle leaned into the emptiness Felt that low and lonely highway dread When a buzz of neon cut the black ahead "Food & Gas," the sign was painted blue Looked too clean, too bright, too new. [Verse 2] The pumps were chrome, the glass was clean An old Corvette was parked outside The man inside looked like a movie scene With a wide lapel and nowhere left to hide I walked on in, the little bell it chimed Heard a ghostly disco from another time I grabbed a drink and a candy bar A brand I'd never seen, near or far. And I was there, I breathed the air from a different year Felt the worn-out counter, conquered all the fear There's a ghost that's running through my tank A memory the world thinks is a blank I was there, I swear I stood on hallowed ground And the only proof is the secret that I found. [Verse 3] Two miles up, the spell was breaking slow My own reflection came back to my eyes Looked in the mirror, wanted him to know But the road behind was just empty skies Just a patch of weeds where the lights had been A place that my two eyes had never seen Reached in my pocket for the bill I’d saved To see the price on the lie he gave. 'Cause I was there, I breathed the air from a different year Felt the worn-out counter, conquered all the fear There's a ghost that's running through my tank A memory the world thinks is a blank I was there, I swear I stood on hallowed ground And the only proof is the secret that I found. It’s just a fragile piece of history The paper's thin, the ink is hard to see The ink was faded, but it sealed my fate The impossible, undeniable date. Printed clear: October twenty-three. Nineteen hundred and seventy-eight. The engine hums a quiet, steady tune... Lit by the glow of a mirror-ball moon. That candy bar is sitting on my dash... A sweet mirage. A flicker. And a flash. Yeah, the gas he sold me is still in the car. It's still in the car. “I found an old map folded in the trunk, Marked with towns that vanished long ago. And someone circled that bright blue station — In handwriting that looked a lot like my own.”
