One Tank of Summer

[Intro: Soft Male Choir, Serene Ambience] [instructions: slow, sustained male choir hums; minimal percussion; airy cathedral reverb] [Verse 1] Saturday came up grinning with nothing on the books, so I filled her up at the corner store, grabbed us two cold cokes. You came out in your sunglasses with your sandals in your hand, said, "which way are we heading?" — and I said, "I love that plan." [Pre-Chorus] Roll the windows all the way, let the radio decide — we've got daylight in the mirror and a whole state on the side. [Chorus] One tank of summer — drive it till the light runs out, past the peach stands and the hayfields and the towns we've dreamed about. Take the turn we always wonder on, the road with no name signed, find a lake we didn't plan on, leave our footprints and our time. No map but what the sun does, no clock but getting hungry, your feet up on my dashboard — girl, that's rich, that's more than money. When the gauge is getting low, we'll chase the last light like a plane... one tank of summer, baby. Then let's fill it up again. [Verse 2] We bought peaches from a card table, ate them dripping off the hood, swam in cutoffs at the quarry 'cause the cold felt just that good. You sang wrong words to the right songs with your hand out on the wind, and I kept the speed at lazy just to stretch the day we're in. [Pre-Chorus] There's a sunburn on your shoulder shaped like one strap of your dress — and if summer needs a picture, man, I nominate that mess. [Chorus] One tank of summer — drive it till the light runs out, past the peach stands and the hayfields and the towns we've dreamed about. Take the turn we always wonder on, the road with no name signed, find a lake we didn't plan on, leave our footprints and our time. No map but what the sun does, no clock but getting hungry, your feet up on my dashboard — girl, that's rich, that's more than money. When the gauge is getting low, we'll chase the last light like a plane... one tank of summer, baby. Then let's fill it up again. [Bridge] Someday they'll total up our mileage, all the numbers, all the miles — but they can't count what we were burning: it was sunlight, it was smiles. 'Cause a life's just like a gas gauge, going down the whole way through — so you'd better spend your summers... on the roads that come with you. [Outro] Midnight in the driveway, bugs and starlight on the glass, your head against my shoulder, radio down low at last. The needle's kissing empty, and I wouldn't change a thing — we spent one tank of summer... and it bought us everything.