[Intro: drone bed, tremolo guitar, no drums] [Verse 1: no kit, floor tom only — close vocal, sparse] Rain on the windshield, wipers keeping time Mile marker nine past the county line A red sign buzzing where the blacktop bends One word still burning where the shoulder ends I slow down rolling past the office door Gravel popping underneath the floor Pocket change and coffee gone half cold The night clerk's window with the blinds half closed [Chorus: harmonies widen, pedal steel enters] Vacancy (vacancy) Spelled in red at the edge of town Vacancy (vacancy) The only open door I found [Verse 2: band builds under the vocal] The mirror holds it, red and getting small Letter by letter till there's none at all Gas pump island sleeping past the bend Grain elevator where the flatlands end Diner mug rings stain the dashboard tray Mile markers count the miles away Cattle guard rattles underneath the frame But that red word follows just the same [Chorus 2: full kit enters, groove locks] Vacancy (vacancy) Spelled in red at the edge of town Vacancy (vacancy) The only open door I found [Guitar Solo: overdrive guitar over the locked groove] [Drop: voice and drone only] (vacancy) [Final Chorus: full band] Vacancy (vacancy) Spelled in red at the edge of town Vacancy (vacancy) The only open door I found [Outro: drone bed returns, voice and tremolo] Still see it burning at the edge of town Red on the blacktop, never cooling down Wipers keeping time on the glass That one red word I never drove past [End]
