[Intro] [single slide guitar note, long reverb tail, distant wind through empty buildings, no drums yet] [Verse 1] [soft, sparse, restrained] Town clings to the mountainside Half of it slid down the hill Copper's gone, the miners scattered But somethin' up there's stayin' still Lights on in the old hotel there Nobody's checked in for years Piano playin' in the parlor Nobody livin's back there [Pre-Chorus] [building tension, single guitar note repeating] They say the whole town's hauntin' Not just one room, not just one hall Every buildin's got a tenant Nobody livin' there at all [Chorus] [fuller sound now, but still restrained] Jerome don't sleep after dark Jerome just changes shifts The dead clock in when the sun goes down And the livin' gets the gift Of watchin' lights that ain't got wires Watchin' shadows on the cliff [Verse 2] [same restrained groove as verse 1] Doctor's office still got patients Waitin' on a doc who died in nineteen-ten Old saloon's got standin' room only For men who won't drink again Town used to hold fifteen thousand Now it's less than a hundred souls But the ones who left just changed addresses Still payin' rent, so I'm told [Guitar Solo] [slide guitar, wandering, no rush, heavy reverb] [Bridge] [drums drop out completely, just vocal and single guitar, most intimate moment of the song] Maybe a town don't ever die out Maybe it just goes quiet a while Maybe every empty window Still got somebody's smile [building back in gradually — drums, bass, second guitar] So if you're drivin' through at midnight And you see a light where there's no house Don't slow down and don't go knockin' Jerome's just wakin' up its ghosts [Final Chorus] [full weight hits here for the first and only time — heaviest moment of the song] JEROME DON'T SLEEP AFTER DARK JEROME JUST CHANGES SHIFTS THE DEAD CLOCK IN WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN AND THE LIVIN' GETS THE GIFT
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