(Intro: Melancholic acoustic guitar starts slow, joined by a low, humming bass. The sound of a truck engine idling in the distance fades into a rainy atmosphere.) Verse 1 The sun is dipping low behind the warehouse wall, A shadow stretches long across the loading stall. The clock hits three, the second shift begins to stir, But there’s a silence where a heavy engine used to purr. I look across the lot to where you used to park that rig, Now the empty space feels mountains wide and ocean big. The keys are on the hook, the logbook’s gathered dust, A brotherhood of diesel now surrendered to the rust. Pre-Chorus We heard the news in whispers by the breakroom door, You traded in the moonlight for the morning roar. They say the coffee’s fresher when the sky is blue, But they don’t know the hollowed-out horizon left for us without you. Chorus Oh, Roland’s gone to the light of the morning sun, The midnight miles are over, and the twilight runs are done. They told us once you go to first, you never look behind, Leaving all the ghosts of second shift to haunt a weary mind. Yeah, the road is long and lonely under the silver moon, We didn't think the "farewell" would have to come this soon. Now the gear-shift echoes like a heartbeat skipped in pain, Roland’s never coming back to drive through the midnight rain. Verse 2 We’re pulling double duty just to keep the spirit high, But every air-brake hiss sounds like a heavy, broken sigh. The radio is quiet, no more jokes across the wire, Just the hum of tires burning like a slow and steady fire. You’re waking with the birds now, seeing colors in the park, While we’re still out here grinding, navigating through the dark. Is the sunrise really worth the price of leaving us below? In the world of iron giants, you were the only glow. Pre-Chorus The dock plate drops with a heavy, iron sound, But the king of the night-shift is nowhere to be found. They say the grass is greener on the early side of day, But everything feels grayscale since you moved away. Chorus Oh, Roland’s gone to the light of the morning sun, The midnight miles are over, and the twilight runs are done. They told us once you go to first, you never look behind, Leaving all the ghosts of second shift to haunt a weary mind. Yeah, the road is long and lonely under the silver moon, We didn't think the "farewell" would have to come this soon. Now the gear-shift echoes like a heartbeat skipped in pain, Roland’s never coming back to drive through the midnight rain. Bridge (Guitar solo: Slow, weeping blues style with heavy reverb) Once you go first, the legend says you’re lost, A soul redeemed by daylight, but look at what it cost. The second shift is a family, forged in grease and grime, Frozen in the shadows, lost in the halls of time. Do you ever miss the stillness of a two-A-M highway? Or are you too busy living in the glare of the day? The cab is cold, the seat is high, the mirror’s fixed on "gone," While we’re still chasing starlight, waiting for a phantom dawn. Guitar Solo / Outro (Music swells with a mournful cello joining the guitar) Roland... The heavy hauler of our hearts. You took the exit ramp and never looked back. (Sound of a truck horn fading into the distance) Just a ghost in the rearview now. Just a name on a shift-lead’s sheet. Gone to the first... And they never come back. No, they never come back to the dark. (Fade to silence with the sound of wind and a single, lonely piano note)
