[Intro] I don’t remember the ramp Only the road And the moon nailed up like a warning That already knew my name [Verse 1] The highway was a single black sentence No curve, no seam, no mercy in the paint Trees stood in two ranks like they were sculpted Dash clock blinking 2:14 Then 2:14 again I drove until driving felt like a memory Stopped on gravel that didn’t smell like any county I knew Blood moon on the hood A dried wound lighting the mile [Pre-Chorus] I walked into the trees to test a wall Twenty steps of wet bark No birds Then the far shoulder Same car Same moon Same man Coming out of the other sleeve [Chorus] The long dark highway Doesn’t turn Doesn’t end Doesn’t forgive the two miles I stole The long dark highway Keeps the time I wouldn’t spend I can walk the woods forever I still owe the shoulder [Verse 2] I tied my shirt to a trunk like a scientist Drove “forward” till the rag came back on the right Mile markers climbed Then wore the same numbers in a different font Radio gave me static shaped like a hymn Then my own voice, late Asking if I wanted to get there tonight I did not want to get there tonight That was the part I could not say [Pre-Chorus] I invented towns I invented a person behind the glass Headlights rose and I almost wept Till I knew the grille Empty Keeping pace [Chorus] The long dark highway Doesn’t turn Doesn’t end Doesn’t forgive the two miles I stole The long dark highway Keeps the time I wouldn’t spend I can walk the woods forever I still owe the shoulder [Bass Solo] [Verse 3] There was rain There was a fight Someone in the seat who asked me to stop I said I’d send a car I said it was two miles I watched them shrink in the glass Then I watched the glass This moon is that color This road is that choice Wearing trees [Bridge] First religion: this is shock, walk to the lights Second: this is a puzzle, be clever, be spared Third came without permission I am not lost I am parked The road is the time I refused to give It will not bend Until I stop hunting the exit And start hunting the name I said it Just the name Not a speech [Guitar Solo] [Final Chorus] The long dark highway Doesn’t turn Doesn’t end The passenger door is finished being empty The long dark highway Knows how to bend If I sit with the cost If I don’t ask the word for ghost The long dark highway One room One rule One passenger I still owe the shoulder [Outro] Clock still loves 2:14 I don’t take the turn yet I sit with what I collected Let’s not leave anyone On the mile
