[Intro] (Fast acoustic strumming, rhythmic snare mimicking a train) [Verse 1] Looking through the smudged glass on the outbound train Watching the Meadowlands wash away in the rain The tall grass bends where the salt marsh meets the steel And the rhythm of the track tells you how you're supposed to feel Leaving Lyndhurst behind in a blur of gray and green Heading for the brightest lights that I have ever seen No digital screens, just the world passing by Underneath a heavy, cinematic autumn sky [Pre-Chorus] The conductor punches tickets with a silver metal click And the skyline approaches, rising up through the brick It’s a transition state, hovering between the two The quiet suburban morning and the metropolitan blue [Chorus] And I'm riding the rails into the heart of the noise! Leaving behind the silence and the neighborhood static Trading the empty streets for the chaotic poise Of a city that is constantly, beautifully dramatic Yeah, the wheels keep spinning and the river runs wide I'm just a quiet observer on a morning ride [Verse 2] There's a woman in the corner reading poetry in print And a guy with a coffee hiding an exhausted squint Everybody has a story wrapped up in a heavy coat A thousand different letters that nobody ever wrote We dive into the tunnel and the windows turn to black Just the humming of the engine and the singing of the track A temporary sanctuary moving fifty miles an hour Before we all scatter out into the concrete power [Chorus] And I'm riding the rails into the heart of the noise! Leaving behind the silence and the neighborhood static Trading the empty streets for the chaotic poise Of a city that is constantly, beautifully dramatic Yeah, the wheels keep spinning and the river runs wide I'm just a quiet observer on a morning ride [Outro] Watch the gap. Step out into the light. Penn Station breathing. (Acoustic guitar fades into the sound of train brakes)
