[Verse 1] Took the off ramp at mile marker nine Been like this all summer long Check the guage, half a tank But my eyelids dip and sink I've been runnin' on fumes Been on the road three days past June Flickerin' sign just said “GAS” Like a nightmare from my past [Pre-Chorus] So it goes So I've been told Where every mile marker Makes you that much older [Chorus] Engines eyedlin' in the night Tail-lights red, headlights white Shadows from the roadside lookin' back at me Coffee held in my shakin' hand Can't help wonderin' how this haul ends Next rest stop always outta sight Where engines idle in the night [Verse 2] I step inside the music plays Florescent lights set me in a haze I felt eyes on my back Somethin's off to my mind And the clerk didn't seem all there Turned my back, he disappeared Written on the freezer door “WELCOME HOME” Blood dripped to the floor [Chorus] Engines eyedlin' in the night Tail-lights red, headlights white Shadows from the roadside lookin' back at me Coffee held in my shakin' hand Can't help wonderin' how this haul ends Next rest stop always outta sight Where engines idle in the night [Verse 3] That's a trucker's life Livin' on the edge of a knife Always feelin' out of place Every stop a liminal space Flashin' lights up ahead These delays are killin' me dead Some poor bastard's rig left the road An unfinished story left untold [Bridge] As I crept along that night The other trucks faded from sight That old ride wrecked off the side Some poor bastard took that final ride I gripped my hands on the steering wheel I recognized with a cold dread feel They were pullin' that poor sod out My throat tightened and strangled my shout That old rig was from out of state My old home town, those were my plates [Chorus] Engines dyin' in the night Tail-lights blood red, headlights bone white Shadows end with no faces Coffee cold in my shakin' hand Now I know how this haul ends Next rest stop never in sight Where engines die in the endless night [Outro] If you're drivin' that long run From risin' past settin' sun Listenin' to the radio Brothers an' sisters in the know You might hear my old call sign Warnin' you bout mile marker nine That's where I met my fate So stop for the night 'fore it's too late
