[Verse 1: Hard-rock male lead, raw belted, big hard drums] Fourteen dogs and a thousand miles of white from Willow up to Nome They hang a red lantern at the finish and it burns till the last one's home I was never gonna win it, I'm a plumber from Fairbanks With a team of borrowed huskies and a sled I built from planks Day six out past Ruby I came on a man down in the snow Leader tangled, sled tipped over, and his right leg wouldn't go I could hear the front pack leavin' and I knew the race was done So I built a fire and I sat with him till the plane came with the sun [Pre-Chorus: Hard-rock male lead, belted, heavy bass] Two days late, I'm runnin' last, and every checkpoint's packin' up And the dogs don't know we're losin', and the dogs won't let it drop [Chorus: Hard-rock male lead, huge belted hard-rock vocal, heavy riffing guitars] Somebody's gotta bring the lantern home Somebody's gotta finish when the crowd is gone Every mile I gave away, I'd give it all again Somebody's gotta bring the lantern home [Verse 2: Hard-rock male lead, harder, big hard drums] Front Street, two a.m. in Nome, and I figure no one's there Just the lantern on the arch and the cold and empty air Then the fire siren wails the way it wails for number one And the whole of Nome is on Front Street in parkas, every mother's son And the man I sat beside out there is standin' on a crutch And he's holdin' up the lantern, and he doesn't say too much [Pre-Chorus: Hard-rock male lead, belted, heavy bass] Two days late, I'm runnin' last, and every checkpoint's packin' up And the dogs don't know we're losin', and the dogs won't let it drop [Chorus: Hard-rock male lead, huge belted hard-rock vocal, heavy riffing guitars] Somebody's gotta bring the lantern home Somebody's gotta finish when the crowd is gone Every mile I gave away, I'd give it all again Somebody's gotta bring the lantern home [Bridge: Hard-rock male lead, low-string doubling under the riff, belted] They say the lantern goes to the slowest, but it's not about the clock It's the one who stayed out longest, it's the one who wouldn't stop And they blow it out when I come in, the whole trail finally done And the light they lit in Willow was for every single one [Final Chorus: Hard-rock male lead, huge belted hard-rock vocal, heavy riffing guitars, strings] Somebody's gotta bring the lantern home Somebody's gotta finish when the crowd is gone Every mile I gave away, I'd give it all again Somebody's gotta bring the lantern home [End]
