[Intro: ringing guitars, glockenspiel, then the big drums] Ice on the lines and the whole county black Thirty hours in a bucket, and I ain't going back [Verse 1] First call of the night is a farmhouse out on Route Nine Old woman with a candle and an oxygen line Climb the pole in the sleet with my fingers gone numb Splice it by the headlamp till I hear the hum Lineman's rule, never touch it till you know it's dead Thirty years of climbing, and I still got my head Kitchen window lights up yellow on the snow She's waving with a dish towel, I wave and I go One house down, and a thousand more in a row Coffee in the thermos and the radio low [Chorus] Call me a live wire, I don't know how to stop Thirty hours climbing, and I'm still up top Every dark window is a name I know Live wire, baby, and I'm bringing it home [Verse 2] Main Street, the diner and the hardware store Barber pole frozen by the barber's door School gym full of cots and a hundred cold kids Teacher reading stories by the light of a lid Throw the breaker on the corner, and the whole block wakes Diner sign buzzing, and the waitress cracks the eggs Kids at the window of the gym with their hands up high One whole street lit up, and I'm climbing on by [Chorus] Call me a live wire, I don't know how to stop Thirty hours climbing, and I'm still up top Every dark window is a name I know Live wire, baby, and I'm bringing it home [Verse 3] Two in the morning at the substation gate Hands like leather, and my eyes won't wait Up on the ridge with the valley down below Twenty miles of dark lying under the snow Radio crackles, and my wife says, Ray Kids are asleep, but the house is still gray I said, hold on, baby, leave the porch light free Pull the last switch, and I count to three [Bridge: one guitar note feeds back and swells like a power line] Farmhouse and the diner and the school and the church Every town on the river, every road, every porch Coming on together like the sun came early Twenty miles of windows, and the last one's ours [Final Chorus: guitar feedback swells like a power line, then the full band] Call me a live wire, I don't know how to stop Thirty hours climbing, and I'm still up top Every dark window is a name I know Live wire, baby, and the line runs home [Outro: guitars ring, glockenspiel, last big hit] Porch light burning when I pull in the drive Thirty hours gone, and the whole valley's alive [End]
