[Intro — soft guitar, distant drums] Oh, those days… Those days… Back when the night was young, back when we were young… Play it again… Play it again… [Verse 1] Back in the office, thinking about the band, A show is coming soon, old songs in our hands. Jake and Peter, Johnny coming too, Old songs, new songs, something coming through. The third record's waiting, somewhere out of sight, But we still have the music, we still have the night. [Chorus — slowly building] Oh, those days, those crazy days, gone, gone, gone… The rooms are gone, the roads are gone, but the music carries on. Oh, those days, those crazy days, gone, gone, gone… Everything is changing, but the music carries on. Carries on… carries on… [Verse 2] One little hotel in a little town, We wanted the nightclub, but they shut us down. Someone found a lady, someone made a plan, The hotel man was angry, “Don't come back again!” So early in the morning, the road crew had their fun, One room lost its heating, one room lost its sun. Cold room, dark room, nobody knew why… We just smiled and walked away, we just smiled and walked away. [Chorus — stronger] Oh, those days, those crazy days, gone, gone, gone… The rooms are gone, the roads are gone, but the music carries on. Oh, those days, those crazy days, gone, gone, gone… We were young, we were loud, we were lost inside the crowd. Oh, those days… those days… [Verse 3 — playful, then emotional] The old swimming hall, late at night, A guard came running with a big dog in sight. Half of us disappeared, half of us stayed, underneath the blankets, trying not to breathe. “Don't move… don't move…” We laughed until the morning, we thought we'd never change. We thought those nights would last forever. But nothing stays. Nothing stays. [Bridge — quiet, emotional] Now we're older, older men, calm and quiet, different friends. No more drinking, no more games, no more wild hotel names. And there's nothing at the breakfast table left to tell… But somewhere underneath it all… I can still hear the music. [Build — drums enter] The old hotel is gone. The old rooms are gone. The old streets are gone. The old nights are gone. People disappear. Places disappear. Years disappear. But the song… the song… the song remains. [Final Chorus — full emotional release] Oh, those days, those crazy days, gone, gone, gone… Everything we thought would stay has somehow moved along. Oh, those days, those crazy days, gone, gone, gone… We lost the rooms, we lost the years, we lost the reckless dreams. But when the guitar starts to play… You're here. I'm here. We're here again. [Outro — looping, fading] Play it again… play it again… Old friends… old songs… Play it again… play it again… Everything else is gone… Everything else is gone… But the music… The music carries on. Carries on… carries on… carries on… [Fade]
