[INSTRUMENTAL — vibraphone and twang riff, bongos setting the 5/4 skip] [VERSE 1 — sly melodic phrasing, muted brass answering] We took separate doors and separate seats and met beside the bar Mara in a plain blue coat, me reading about cars The brown bag in the luggage rack, the black bag at my feet Two stolen tickets, one southbound seat [CHORUS — lilting nocturnal hook, vibraphone sparkling] The night train south The night train south Keep your voice low Keep your bags close [VERSE 2 — quicker vocal, guitar curling around the lines] At every station someone official-looking stepped aboard They checked the faces, not the tickets, then they checked the faces more Mara turned her wedding ring around and asked about my wife I said, "She left me at the border", loud enough for the man beside me [CHORUS — lilting nocturnal hook, vibraphone sparkling] The night train south The night train south Keep your voice low Keep your bags close [BRIDGE — vocal close, bass and muted brass tiptoeing] Somewhere after midnight she fell asleep against the glass I put my coat around her and I watched the dark towns pass The conductor checked our tickets, punched a hole in each He never saw the name [VERSE 3 — warm but guarded vocal, strings opening] I thought about the money, Eli, Voss, the things we didn't say I thought about the ferry and the photograph I'd saved Mara woke and asked me if we were nearly there I said, "Not even close" [INSTRUMENTAL — swirling phaser guitar solo, vibraphone trading bars] [CHORUS — fullest hook, brass and strings joining] The night train south The night train south Keep your voice low Keep your bags close [CHORUS — repeat hook, strings climbing above] The night train south The night train south Keep your voice low Keep your bags close [OUTRO — vibraphone fading into swirling guitar] The night train south The night train south At Santa Lucia More men waiting
