[Verse 1] The café closed an hour ago The chairs are up, the lights burn low Old Joe's sweeping yesterday away While I sit here with things I can't say A freight train groans beyond the hill The town stands quiet, the clock stands still The waitress smiles as she kills the light Says, "You heading home?" I say, "Not tonight" [Pre-Chorus] Everybody's gone But the ghosts stay on [Chorus] These long lonely nights Keep rolling like wheels on a track Long lonely nights Take a little and never give back The harmonica cries from the edge of the room The dobro sighs like an old love gone too soon And the moon hangs high over these worn-out lights In these long lonely nights [Verse 2] The river keeps telling the same old tale To the bridge, the weeds and the rusted rail I walk downtown where the neon hums Past shuttered stores and silent drums A dog barks twice from somewhere unseen A screen door slams in the in-between Every street knows where I've been Every turn brings me back again [Pre-Chorus] Everybody's gone But the ghosts stay on [Chorus] These long lonely nights Keep rolling like wheels on a track Long lonely nights Take a little and never give back The harmonica cries from the edge of the room The dobro sighs like an old love gone too soon And the moon hangs high over these worn-out lights In these long lonely nights [Bridge] Now the band plays soft in the corner bar Just bass, piano and an old guitar For a moment I almost feel alright Then they stop... And the silence arrives. [Instrumental Lift] [Hammond organ swells, harmonica answers, drums gradually open up] [Final Chorus] These long lonely nights Keep rolling like wheels on a track Long lonely nights Take a little and never give back But somewhere beyond these tired streets Beyond the echoes and the empty seats There's a morning waiting on the other side Of these long lonely nights [Outro] The train keeps moving The river keeps time And somewhere the dawn Starts changing its mind
